Bleach Forbidden Love
by goXve
Summary: Byakuya abuses Rukia and she just wants it to stop. Will she succeed? Warning: In this story Byakuya is "evil" and abuse. Can't read about that kind of Byakuya, don't read this story! This story also contains sexual things, which if why the M-rating.
1. Chapter 1

Hi, you guys! I know that I should update my other story (Bleach, Soul Society) but I have get so many compliments about this story so I decided that it was time to re-write it and try to make it better then the first version. I hope that you guys will like this new version as much as you liked the old one! :D Please review!

_**Warning: If you can't read about assault (when someone hits another person often and painful), do not read this**_ _**story.**_

SMACK!

The slap came with such surprise on her cheek that she had not had time to see it come. It hurt and she instinctively backed away not to suffer again. Usually, she had always been able to predict when the hand would normally be coming so that she could prepare, but not this time.

She could not even remember what she had done this time which could result in that she was punished. Usually it was because she daydreamed or did not do chores fast enough, but this time she had not done any of it.

She could feel the pain began to subside, and how a burning sensation instead appeared on her cheek. She felt at that moment how a red mark began forming on her cheek, almost like a burn mark.

"What have I told you, Rukia?" Byakuya yelled at her as he stood and looked down at her. "You should listen and do as I say and nothing else! How many times do I have to tell you that at three o'clock, it should be spotlessly clean here?"

Rukia looked deep into the floor and whispered "Yes, Nii-sama (brother)", before she bent down on her knees and bowed to Byakuya to show that she was sorry for what she had done.

Byakuya murmured something unintelligible and walked out of the room. He could not stand the sight of his dead wife's sister.

When Rukia heard the door close behind her, she let the tears come out. Why did Byakuya hate her so? Was she really such a bad girl as he always said she was? She always did what he told her, but apparently it was not good enough. He always talked about that she was no good, that she was weak and that she should be happy that he even took care of her because nobody else wanted to, since they only saw her as a burden.

Rukia knew that the last was not true, but if she would have the gall to point out that for Byakuya, he would make sure she got to eat up her words triple!

It had not always been this miserable. Before her sister Hisana had died, Byakuya used to always smile, laugh and take care of Rukia along with her sister. They had lived like a big, happy family.

Rukia had often felt it as if Byakuya and Hisana had been her parents and she their child.

She could remember all the times they had been out on picnics, visited marketplaces around Seireitei, and other things that a normal family often tends to do. The best would still had to been the time Byakuya had brought Rukia to see her sister dancing before a large audience. It had been the end of the year and it was tradition that the women were dancing a special dance in honor to the year that had been and to welcome the new one.

Her sister had been so beautiful where she had danced in a pink kimono and with her black, long hair put up. Rukia remembered that she thought of her sister as an angel who had chosen to spend the rest of her life along with the two people she cared about most in the whole world.

Rukias smile disappeared quickly when she remembered that fateful day Hisana had been pulled away from her and Byakuya. After her sister's death had everything that before been so beautifully and happy, changed into something ugly and disgusting that you could not talk about. Byakuya had spent more time alone in his room and had not responded when someone spoke to him. Only given them the eyes that told the person who appealed to him to simply go to where the pepper grows.

After a while he had begun talk to Rukia again, but now it was no longer the happy and loveable voice he always used when he talked to her. No, now it was a vicious and cold voice that just by thinking about it, got Rukia's neck hair to rise.

He had told her to do a lot of things she previously did not have to do: cleaning the house, cook, wash and take care of the dishes. If she did not do it fast or good enough, he hit her. And not a few pats on the cheek, which told her that she, did a good job, but she could try to increase the tempo a bit. No, it was the kind that hurts and leaves marks, such as bruising and sometimes scars, depending on what you hit with.

One time he had hit her so hard she had bled from the mouth of a wound that had manifest on her lip. That time Byakuya had helped her to clean the wound, instead of just leaving her with her pain as he otherwise would do. It might have been because of the tears she had not been able to hold back because of the pain she felt, which led him to regret what he did and tried to repair what he had done by helping her clean the wound he had caused.

Byakuya did not hurt her all the time. Some days, when he was in a good mood, it could be that he helped her to wash the dish. He could even smile, laugh and tell her about Hisana and ask her if she remembered all the fun things they had done together while Hisana had still been alive.

These days were the only ones that Rukia could call "a relaxing day". She knew that as long as Byakuya was in a good mood, he would not hit her or hurt her in other ways, for example, by calling her things. But she also knew that at any moment that happy smile or those warm hands that caressed her cheek could become weapons that were only installed for one thing:

To hurt her, and perhaps even kill her if needed.

So naive she was to think that if she made an effort to work more quickly, if only she would be quiet, Byakuya would stop the assault on her and be the old Byakuya he had once been.

Be the Byakuya that she missed so much.

Rukia knew in her heart that she was already working as hard as she could, that Byakuya just came up with stories. Stories that would only give him a reason to punish her.

Sometimes it happened that she began thinking of ways to escape. How she would just run away when Byakuya looked away or were not around. But she also knew that as soon as those thoughts came to her, she would never do so if the time finally came to her.

Because even how much she hated this place she once called home, and how hard she would like to run away from all the terrible things that struck her, getting a chance to start again in another place, she still loved Byakuya. She could not just leave him. It would crush him; he may even take his own life! She could not let that happen!

She could never forgive herself if she did something that would lead to that Byakuya injured himself. She could not live with the knowledge that she had caused her "brother's" death.

It had been almost six years now since her sister's death. Six years of pain, suffering, sorrow and hate. Six years of loss and loneliness.

Someone came into the room and interrupted Rukia's thoughts of the past that she missed so much. Quickly she brushed away the tears, took a deep breath and pasted on a fake smile as she had done so many times before.

She was so used to show a side of herself that was not true, that she now did it without thinking about it. She was like a robot that was set to show a side of itself that did not fit with how she really felt inside.

"Rukia, how are you?" Asked a voice behind her.

Rukia turned around and was greeted by a pair of brown eyes that shone with worry. The person who the eyes belonged to wore a similar black kimono as her and had his/her red hair set up in a ponytail. In the face you could see black tattoos that covered the person's temples.

The person was Abarai Renji, Kuchiki Byakuya's vice captain and Rukia's best friend.

"Oh, I'm fine, Renji. Thanks for asking. You?"

"Everything is good. I saw Byakuya a while ago, and he looked very angry. Had you a fight, or?" Renji turned around and looked towards the direction where Byakuya had passed by.

Rukia's smile disappeared. Just like you do not know what happens ... She thought. Instead of saying what she was thinking aloud, she said:

"Yes, you could say that. He's not happy with me. He thinks that I'm too lazy and weak ..."

Renji turned back his eyes towards Rukia. He could see how Rukia's mood went down and in an attempt to cheer her up, he said:

"But you are smart, funny and beautiful, Rukia! You have the most beautiful Zanpaktou throughout Seireitei!" Renji smiled down at her.

Zanpaktou was the name of the swords that Rukia, Renji, Byakuya and the others in the Soul Society used. Soul Society, or Seireitei which it was also called, was a place for Shinigamis, Death Angels. Their task was to ensure that the souls of the people on Earth were not eaten by Hollows, who were wicked souls. They lived on good souls in an attempt to relieve the pain they felt after becoming a Hollow. Only people who had been really bad while they lived became a Hollow directly after their death.

Rukia gave Renji a little smile back, mostly to convince herself that everything was fine between her and Byakuya. "It's true, but what is beauty compared to strength to Nii-sama? He only cares about how strong I am, not how beautiful my Zanpaktou is."

Renji did not know what he would answer to Rukia's claim. He knew how Byakuya was; he was, after all, his vice Captain.

He had also noticed how often Rukia stayed home instead of going out to the others. Sometimes, but which has not happened often, he could see her sitting outside her and Byakuya's house on a chair in the garden. Her eyes always seemed to be so far away, as if she saw something beyond all the clouds that only she could see.

She always looked like she was sad, lonely and lost in her own thoughts.

Renji had always thought it was because of the missing of her dead sister, Hisana. Both Rukia and Byakuya had taken her death very hard, everyone in Seireitei knew about it. He had seen how his captain had changed drastically, how he barely spoke to someone else except for when really needed.

Rukia had also become more withdrawn and did not want to walk out through the door, other than to sit down in the garden and see how the cherry trees blossomed and died out as they always did, year after year.

But now, more recently, since he began to visit Rukia whenever he had time, he had begun to wonder if it could be something else that made Rukia stay inside so often and hardly dared to open her mouth as fast as Byakuya was around.

Something that might have had with his captain to do.

3


	2. Chapter 2

Kurosaki Ichigo was a boy of age 15 and a high school student who always got into trouble. So said some people when they described him, anyway. It was probably because he almost always was in the midst of a fight with another high school student who was bigger than himself and who had said or done something to his friends.

He lived in Karakura Town with his father Kurosaki Isshin and his two twin sisters Kurosaki Yuzu and Karin. His mother, Kurosaki Masaki, was dead since some years and his entire family missed her awful lot, even if none of them wanted to admit it to each other.

Ichigo had not told anyone about it, but he was pretty sure that Yuzu, his youngest sister, tried to live up to his dead mother. She was the one who cooked, cleaned the house and other things that had to be taken care of.

No one ever talked about their dead mother, but Ichigo knew it was his fault that his mother died. He had asked his father once why no one blamed him for his mother's death, but the only thing his father had said was:

"If I were to blame Masaki's death on you Masaki would get mad at me. It's not anyone's fault that Masaki died. It's just that, the woman I fell in love with was a woman who could die protecting her son. And do not forget, you're the guy the woman I loved gave her life to protect."

Ichigo had of course known that what his father had said was true, but it did not stop his feelings of guilt from continuing to chase him. He could still remember the day he got his mother killed as clear as the clearest water.

His mother had just taken him from even a boxing workout, and it had rained heavily when they joined hands on the way home where his sisters and father was waiting for them. When they almost had crossed the bridge that would lead them home, Ichigo had seen a glimpse of a lonely girl who stood by the water below the bridge. She had had no umbrella, just a black / white dress that covered her entire body.

Thinking that she must be cold and in need of an umbrella, Ichigo had released his mother's hand and rushed down to the girl with the words "Wait here, Mom, I'll just check something."

The last thing he remembered before everything turned black was his mother's voice when she called out his name and footsteps that was coming up behind him. When he woke up his mother had been lying in a puddle of her own blood with her arms around him.

She was dead.

As long as Ichigo could remember he had been able to see ghosts and even talk to them. From the beginning, he could not tell the difference between the living and the dead, but over time he learned how he could tell them apart. Now afterwards he knew that it must have been a ghost that killed his mother, but why it wanted to make another person ill, he did not know, however.

He always tried to help the ghosts to move over to the "other side", but he did not know where they went after that. Was it to hell or heaven? Was there even a place you come to after you die?

"Ichigo, food!" Yuzu called out from downstairs.

Ichigo's thoughts were interrupted by his sister's cries. "I'm not hungry, Yuzu. Save some for me and I'll eat it later."

He closed his eyes. Ichigo lay on the bed in his room and thought back at what had happened before under the day. Something strange had occurred that he still couldn't explain. It had with the supernatural to do, but this was unlike anything supernatural he had ever encountered.

He had been walking home from school when the ground he had been walking on begun to shake and some of the buildings around him burst. He had seen a monster-like-thing in front of him but the people around him did not seem to be able to see it. Maybe it was some kind of demon, he had thought before a young girl who looked to be in his own age, in what looked like a black dress with legs came and cut the monster in half with a sword.

When he had tried to get her attention, she had disappeared without a trace. He had looked around but had not seen her somewhere. _Who was this girl?_ _What was she? What kind of strange monster was it he had seen?_

Ichigo sighed and opened his eyes. He heard a noise coming from the wall to his left where he had his desk. It sounded like someone jumped down on it. It could not be true, no one but him was inside his room.

Or?

Ichigo turned his head and looked to the left where he first had heard the sound. The sight that greeted him made him jump out of the bed and scream:

"Oi, what are you doing here?"

The girl he had seen earlier in the day when she fought against that monster creature (whatever it had been), did not answer him. Instead, she jumped down on his floor without giving him as much as a glance. "It's close ..."

Suddenly she fell forward onto the floor. She had had time to feel that a foot was pressed against her back before she started to fall forward. "Is this close enough for you? What are you doing in my room?" She heard a man's voice say over her back.

She turned around and looked up in a pair of amber eyes that made her speechless for a few seconds. They were really dark in color and she thought she could see pain, loss and care in them, as if also this young man had lost someone who had stood near to him.

"You can see me?" She was heaping silly when the worst of the paralysis had subsided.

"Of course I can, why shouldn't I?" Answered the young man responded with a little irritated voice.

Ichigo had no idea how this girl had come into his room, but she would get out the same way, that thing was for sure!

They continued to talk in each other's mouths for a while before the young woman was so irritated that she used a spell to keep Ichigo down on the floor while she talked about where she came from, that she was a Shinigami, and why she was there.

"My name is Kuchiki, if you so very much want to know. I came here to take care of some Hollows or "evil spirits" would you people probably call them. They are good souls who have been taken over by other evil spirits, to make a simple explanation. Some of the Hollows have already become Hollows when they die because they have done so many nasty things when they lived like normal people. Do you understand what I mean?"

"Okay ... I think I understand ... But why are you just here in my house?" Asked Ichigo and looked up at Rukia with a slightly confused look.

He actually looks really cute when he is confused ... Rukia thought and smiled inside before she could stop herself.

Quickly she shook off the thought and concentrated on the task that lay before her. "I thought I felt a Hollow nearby, and decided to check if it was here already."

Ichigo nodded, as if he wanted to show Rukia that he had understood what she had said. "So, how is it to be a Shinigami, then?"

Rukia looked surprised at the question. "Well ... It can be really hard sometimes. But at the same time ..."

"Do you hear that?" Ichigo interrupted her.

A huge roar could be heard nearby, but it was as if something blocked her senses. She could only hear the roar from the Hollow weak, although she felt it was very close. She did not know what it was that made that she heard the Hollow so bad, but it was something she had to deal with later.

Rukia stood up quickly. "It's close, I must go!" She said and turned around in time to see Ichigo's Sister Karin come creeping in to the room.

"Ichigo ... save Yuzu ..." She said before she fainted.

Rukia first looked so that Karin was alive before she ran down to the ground floor with Ichigo not far behind. Now she could hear the roar much better.

Odd that I did not hear it this clearly before, she thought.

"Yuzu! No, let her be!" She heard the young man screaming behind her.

She turned around to tell him that she would take care of the Hollow, and that he must stay away when something happened that made Rukia to open her eyes wide with surprise.

She could see how Ichigo closed his eyes and concentrated. The moment his eyes closed Rukia could feel a massive wave of spiritual energy flow out from Ichigo. He broke her spell with his bare hands, something that had never happened before!

He broke it just by wanting it ... No man should be able to do it! What is he? Rukia thought before she understood something. It was he who blocked my senses! I thought it felt as if something blocked me, and it was his spiritual energy all the time!

Ichigo ran outside and yelled at the Hollow to let go of his sister. He picked up a chair and hit it on the Hollows legs, trying to get it to release his sister. The only thing that happened was that the Hollow hit Ichigo so he flew away and landed on the ground with a dull thud.

Rukia on the other hand moved quickly and jumped out in front of the Hollow where she cut it in the arm, causing it to let go of Yuzu. Rukia saw in her eye corner how Ichigo jumped up and took his sister in his arms. Relieved could Rukia again turn her attention to the Hollow, who by now was becoming angry.

"Run, get out of here! I take care of the Hollow, but you must be sure to get your sister out of here before something really happens to her!" Rukia ventured to give Ichigo a quick glance behind her back.

Ichigo carefully laid down Yuzu on the ground before he passed Rukia and stood before the Hollow. "Over here, come and get me!" Ichigo waved his arms and the Hollow followed his movements with its eyes.

It roared, opened its mouth and started running towards Ichigo, who became frozen in the ground when he saw the Hollow coming toward him. It was not until now that he really understood how big it was and that he had no chance against it ...

It was just about to put his jaws around Ichigo when the Shinigami girl came in between them. The Hollows teeth closed around her shoulders and stomach. The blood was flowing fast and Ichigo yelled:

"Shinigami!"

Rukia managed to get her arm free and cut the Hollow in the face so that it released her. "Don't you understand? It is because of _you_ the Hollow is here! It felt your great spiritual pressure and that is why it attacked your family!"

She crawled away and leaned against a lamppost. Ichigo stared at the Shinigami before him. Was it because of ... him that his sisters were unconscious and were close of dying? "What should I do?"

"Do you really want to save your family?" She knew that if he said yes now, she might die later because of the young man's choice. What she was trying to do was strictly forbidden in Seireitei, but for now it felt as though she had no other choice.

"Yes, I do."

"Then become a Shinigami, as I!"

"How?"

"Take my sword and cut it through your heart. I will transfer some of my powers to you."

Ichigo came up to her and grabbed the sword with both his hands. "Thank you, Shinigami."

"It's not Shinigami. My name is Kuchiki Rukia."

"I am Kurosaki Ichigo."

She was back. Back in her own bedroom in the Seireitei. Her wounds were almost healed, and for once she felt ... happy.

Ichigo had taken half of her powers and defeated the Hollow using them. Afterward, they talked for hours as Ichigo had taken care of her wounds. They had not been as bad as they first thought and Rukia was very grateful to Ichigo for the care that he had shown her.

In the beginning she had been shy to undress before a strange man, but she had luckily not forgotten to wrap around her artificial bra earlier that day, which consisted of soft linen that resembled what people called "bandage", around her breasts. She had noticed on Ichigo that he had also been a little nervous about having to undress her, but he had said to her (and probably mostly to himself) that it must be done.

The Hollows teeth had just touched her left breast, but had been getting a good grab on her side, where she still had bleed. Ichigo had fetched some clean towels, water and a translucent liquid that he said was something that was used to clean wounds and remove bacteria that could conceivably enter the wound.

It had sting something terrible, but Ichigo had been very careful and talked to her all the time he had clean the wound. When he had washed the wound he had wrapped around a white bandage, which he said would ensure that the wound would not get infected.

She had spent a certain part of the night with Ichigo before her early in the morning left his room without saying goodbye to him since she knew they probably would not see each other again. It was best for both of them if Rukia stayed in Seireitei and Ichigo together with the people in his world.

Ichigo had let her sleep in his bed and he himself had taken a mattress from the closet and slept on the floor. He had wished her a good night and turned around before he fell asleep.

She could not sleep at all and it was one of the reasons that she left him before the sun even had time to get up. So many thoughts had been circulating in her head. She had given a stranger a little of her powers to help him rescue his family. Was it because she could not save her own sister? She was not sure, but one thing she knew with certainty:

She did not regret her decision. On the contrary, she was very happy that she had done it.

Before she put her head on the pillow and let the sleep take over her tired body, she gave Byakuya a grateful thought.

If he had not sent her to the real world on this mission, she would never have met the wonderful, kind and beautiful Kurosaki Ichigo.

4


	3. Chapter 3

"_Dear Ichigo,_

_Sorry about that I just leave you as I will do now._ _But I really need to return to the Soul Society, duty calls._ _I'm sure you understand._ _But before I leave you_ _with this letter, thank you for what you did._ _It was really nice of you, you did not have to help me to clean and put a bandage around the wound._

_Use your new strength_ _in a good way now, do you promise me that? I have a feeling that you know what to do with them, since I can not stay to train you. You have to figure it out yourself; otherwise you can always go to Kisuke Urahara, if you really need to._ _He has a store called "Urahara Shop" and he sells things Shinigamis that can help you in your training._

_Now I must really go, before I get into more trouble._ _Thanks again for everything, Kurosaki Ichigo._ _I'm very obliged to you._

_Regards, Kuchiki Rukia, "the Shinigami girl"."_

Ichigo stared at the letter in his hands. He'd wake up a few minutes ago where he was lying on the mattress on the floor that he presented to himself the night before and found out that Rukia was gone. The only sign to be revealed that she had actually been there, was the letter that he held in his hands.

He missed her, he did indeed. It was so long time ago he finally had managed to laugh, to smile and talk for as much as he had done with Kuchiki Rukia the evening before. She was a really nice, kind and sweet girl (or that is, should he perhaps say woman?), even though she was about 150 years old.

I f you were a Shinigami you could apparently live several thousand years, which Ichigo found it slightly hard to believe. In his world, the oldest person was around 100 years old. He had never heard of a person who had been over 110 years old.

"I wonder what kind of duty she has. Is it really so important that she had to go back right away? Or ... may there be something else?" Ichigo said to himself.

The other night when Ichigo had taken care of Rukia's wounds, he had seen a few bruises and scars, as if someone had hit her before she came to the real world, and even before that. Some of the scars looked real old. He had not asked her where they came from, because he had been afraid to scare her away. But now, as he thought of it afterwards, it had probably been a bad idea not to ask.

Could it be that she was afraid to return to Soul Society later than expected? That otherwise she would be punished because she does not obey this someone's order?

One more thing had also been worrying Ichigo and Rukia had strengthened his suspicions that something was wrong. Her eyes had looked so sad, lonely and scared ... As if someone, or something, in the Soul Society frightened her so much that she did not dared to stay away any longer than was necessary.

Ichigo decided to find a way to get to Soul Society, search Rukia up and find out what made her so afraid. And if he could, he would save her from what she had to be rescued from.

He studied the letter in his hand yet again. He looked at the name Rukia had written down and it was his curiosity to come to life. Who was this Kisuke Urahara, and could he really trust him? Could he really trust him, as Rukia wrote in his letter to him?

I know I can trust Rukia; there is something about her that exudes honesty. If she says I can go to that Urahara guy, I can do that and that is exactly what I should do. Can he help me; I'll make sure he does. That much I owe Rukia, Ichigo thought to himself before he closed his eyes and saw Rukia's face in front of him...

"Rukia, wake up!" She felt someone grab her shoulder and shake her while he called her name.

Slowly she opened her eyes and looked straight into Byakuya's worried face. "Nii-sama, what is it? What has happened?"

"You have slept all morning! It is now already early afternoon. I have tried to wake you up many times but you have not even so much as opened your eyes. I was worried about you! Did something happen in the real world? It looks like you have been hurt."

Rukia looked down at the bandage, which she had wrapped around her shoulder after coming back to Seireitei. She did not take any chances of getting an infection when she knew it would only result in that Byakuya would see her as even more weakly as he already did. If it was something that she did not need right now, it was to hear Byakuya telling her how worthless she was.

"Yes, I had some problems with this Hollow that would not cooperate. He managed to get a piece of me, but I finished him of quickly. I'm still a little sore but I feel good now, Nii-sama. You don't need to worry."

"Where have you cleaned the wound?" Now Byakuya's voice began to get suspicious.

"By Kisuke Urahara" Rukia lied. "You know him, right?"

"Ah", Byakuya said. "Yes, I know who he is." Byakuya's face became more relaxed but Rukia could see that he was still a little suspicious. "But you could as well have come back here right away. I would have taken care of you, Rukia. That Kisuke is someone I think you should not trust. He is a foam type."

"I know that, Nii-sama. But I was more hurt than I first thought. I could not get back, and was quite near the Kisuke's store so I decided it was best that I got there and rested before I headed back here to the Seireitei. I'm sorry if I made you anxious, Nii-sama." Rukia bowed low to show that she was really sad.

And, she thought, not to let you have some reason to hurt me...

"It's okay, you're forgiven. The most important thing is that you are back, Rukia. Now back to work!" Ordered Byakuya and Rukia were not slow to do as she was told.

Once Byakuya left her room, she started. First she changed her clothes and made the bed before she went into the washroom. There she took care of the wash and laid down her bloody clothes in the laundry basket to be washed later. They needed be sew over again also she saw before she threw them down in the laundry basket. A large hole at the shoulder after the Hollows teeth could be seen.

She shuddered and sent another grateful thought to Ichigo. If he had not been there ... No, she should stop thinking about that! It was bad enough that she had left Ichigo with only a small letter as only explanation.

I hope he does not think badly of me ... Thought Rukia to her, afraid that Byakuya would otherwise be able to hear what she said and start asking questions that she did not want to answer before she sighed.

The rest of the day went off with a furious pace and without any incident except for one exception. After dinner, which that day consisted of rice balls and meat, something happened that would get Rukia to change her mind about her view of herself.

Byakuya was in a bad mood. Apparently, his training had gone bad. Rukia did not dare to ask what had happened, she would probably be punished if she did so. She knew what happened far too well if she would even dare to whisper her question.

When she and Byakuya had finished eating and she was going to take care of the dishes, she heard Byakuya walk in circles around her and mumble something unintelligible. She tried not to look over at him, but it was hard. She was afraid he would do something and she wanted to be prepared so that she could protect herself from what it was Byakuya likely would do.

Suddenly she felt a hand lay around her hair and took a hard grip. Her head went back with a jerk and Rukia could hear how her neck gave a cracking sound. She was afraid that Byakuya would break the neck if he pulled more, but he stopped as if he understood what he was doing. This, however, did nothing to relieve the pain she felt and that almost made her scream. She dared to look up and there she saw Byakuya's evil glance staring down at her.

"What are you looking at, Rukia? Do I look funny, huh? Am I?" Byakuyas voice was harsh and evil, which could only result in him, hit her at any time, and that _hard._

"No, Nii-sama ... Please, I'm sorry ... I did not mean ..." She felt the tears began to flow down her cheeks.

Byakuya let go of her hair, but instead took a strong hold on Rukia's arm and held her still alone with his gaze as he drilled deeply into her own. He raised his hand and gave her cheek such a blow that her head flew to the side and broke the eye contact, something that Rukia was very happy for. She hated when Byakuya used that look to keep her in place, as it only made her feel even more horrible, although she deep in her heart knew that she had not done anything wrong.

Rukia gasped for air and put her free hand on her red cheek. She stared at Byakuya with big eyes. She opened and shut her mouth like a fish out of water, but nothing came out of her. This bad he had not been to her for a long time, she could not remember the last time he had done like this to her because she had been staring at him a little too much.

Usually it would have been enough that he asked what she did, and then she just turned her face away and prayed for forgiveness for being disobedient.

This time it was different, however. Rukia felt a rage that she had never felt before slowly began to bubble up within her, and just waiting to come to the surface and replace it with the person who caused the awakening.

"What's wrong with you?" She heard herself screaming to Byakuya. "Why do you hate me so? What have I ever done to you, Nii-sama?"

Byakuya only stared at Rukia. It became very quiet when he let the words sink into his brain. But not for long.

As soon as Rukia realized her mistake, she turned on her heel and started to run out from the kitchen, but she did not get long before she felt a strong arm grab her wrist and pull her back toward the kitchen. Rukia screamed as the pain from her wrist shot up into her brain. Byakuya pulled her towards him and held her down by putting his big hands around her slender arms.

"What did you say?" Byakuya leaned forward and looked at Rukia with crazy eyes. In them Rukia could see a mixture of deep anger and outrage as great as when a volcano is near a eruption. And it was she who got this volcano to spew his dangerous lava out.

"Do you really want to know why I do this against you, Rukia? Is that what you want?" Began Byakuya and his voice was as cold as the whitest snow a beautiful winter morning. "Then I'll tell you. _You are weak, Rukia._ I hate weaklings like you. They do not belong here in Seireitei. You could not even defeat one Hollow on your own without being hurt first. It's pathetic, Rukia. Do you know something more? I hate you for taking Hisana from me. I heard when she asked you to kill her because she could not bear the pain. You killed her, Rukia. You killed your own sister and my wife."

The hatred really glowed in Byakuya's eyes when he said the last sentence. He clenched his hand into a fist and beat Rukia straight on the nose so the blood flew to his face and hands, but it was something he did not notice in his anger.

Rukia fell back against the sink and when her back hit it she screamed and fell to the floor with pain in both her nose and back. Down on the floor she felt Byakuya start kicking her in the stomach. Soon the kicks got followed by a new hit in the face and new kicks in her face, chest and stomach.

She did not know how long it all lasted, but all she could see in front of her, while Byakuya beat and kicked her, was Kurosaki Ichigo's smiling face as it had looked like the night before when she had made him laugh at something she had said.

Afterwards, when she'd cleaned the worst wounds and the tears stopped flowing down her cheeks, she noticed the patch that was on her bed. It was addressed to her, her name was on it.

_"I know everything, Rukia. Meet me tonight when "Nii-sama" has gone to bed, up on the hill._  
_Ichigo."_

And she was. Rukia decided that from that day she would do anything that could be proven to Byakuya that he could not control her anymore and that he could not control her, just as he had done for so many years. She would go see Kurosaki Ichigo whether he liked it or not.

And nothing he could say or do could stop her now. Even if she would die because of her choice.

4


	4. Chapter 4

The night was cold and clear. It blew in the trees from the wind and got the otherwise warm night to seem colder and darker. No one was there, except some night insects and a black-haired young girl in a black kimono. In the darkness her eyes seemed to look even purpler than they actually were, and it almost looked as if her eye color merged with her pupil, which caused her eyes to look all-black. Her walk was slow and she limped a little, as if she had fallen and hurt her leg. In her face you could just make out small patches of bruises and in some parts of her black kimono you could also glimpse dry blood stains. Her kimono was also dirty with dust, as if she had rolled around in a very dirty floor.

Anyone could see that this woman was the victim of something terrible, but exactly what it was, it was probably only she who knew.

When she reached the hill, she stopped and listened. Up here, everything was quiet and still, not even the insects ventured up here to share their beautiful melodies. She could feel that a spiritual energy was behind her, but she did not know to whom it belonged. She had never felt it before, and to find out who it belonged to, she would have to turn around and see the person in the eyes.

When she, after a few hesitant seconds turned around, she looked straight into the eyes of a young man with orange, short and spiky hair wearing a sword on his back. He carried a like kimono as her own, which was a sign that he also was a Shinigami just like her.

"You came." The young man looked down at her and she saw how his eyes got big when he saw the bruises that covered her face and her blood-stained clothes.

It felt as if the abuse had taken place days, even weeks earlier. Not just a few hours ago.

"Yes, I did." Rukia answered and gave Ichigo a little smile, even though it hurt just to lift her lips a little. "Surprised?"

"Not really. I'm just glad you did." To Rukia's surprise, she felt Ichigo put his arms around her in a big and warm hug.

"What happened before, Rukia? Your face ... It's ... awful! Who did this to you and why?" Ichigo pulled her out from the hug and looked at her. His voice was angry, but sad, and so were his eyes.

"I ... can not tell ..." Rukia whispered, looking down at her feet. "If I do, it will just get worse ..." Rukia felt if as if she did something terrible that did not told Ichigo about Byakuya's punishment of her earlier in the day, but she just couldn't bring herself to tell Ichigo who had caused her such great harm.

She had thought that by meeting Ichigo could make everything right again, she could forget about Byakuya and his cold eyes for a while and just enjoy to be in company with someone she could be relaxed with, but it turned out she had been wrong in her calculations.

_It had only gotten worse._

Ichigo forced Rukia to look at him by taking hold of her chin and pull it up till her eyes were the same as his own.

"Rukia, I'm doing this because I want to help you. It is not for my own sake, it is for yours. You are a nice, sweet and wonderful person. When I first talked to you after you helped me, I saw your scars and bruises. I saw how scared you were for something or someone. I said nothing because I was afraid you would go into you yourself and turn your back on me. Afraid I would lose what we have started."

"Ichigo ..." Rukia whispered, looking into his amber eyes. In them she saw how frightened he was to lose her, how scared he was that she would die.

"I'm terribly sorry ..." Now the tears came. "But I can't tell even how much I'd like to…"

Before Ichigo would have had time to comment on what she had said, Rukia turned around and ran down the hill as fast as her damaged leg let her. Only now, she _really _realized how stupid it had been to come here, to face Ichigo. If Nii-sama found out about this ... No, she did not want to think about what he could possibly do.

"Rukia, wait!" She heard Ichigo scream behind her but she just kept running.

She bit her lip so she would not scream. The pain from her still not healed wounds were so heavy, it felt like she would faint at any minute. She must endure, it was not long now, and soon she would be home in the safety of Byakuya's house. Inside Ichigo would not dare to follow her.

Now she could see the outline of Byakuyas house in front of her. Soon she was home, just a little longer! No, what happened?

Rukia felt her legs put themselves on the side and saw how the ground came crashing against her. She opened her mouth to scream, but the scream got stuck in her throat. Pain from her injured leg became stronger when she tried to rise.

"Damn ..." she muttered to herself and was just about to start crawling toward the house when she heard footsteps behind her. "Double damn ..."

"Rukia, are you alright? Are you hurt?" Ichigo bent down and looked worried at her.

"I'm fine, Ichigo." Rukia again tried to stand up, but the pain in her leg did not let her.

"You're not okay, you can not even walk! Here, let me help you." Ichigo stood in front of Rukia, and gently took a hold of her legs and pulled her onto his back.

To Rukia's large protests. "Ichigo put me down! I can walk myself! Put me down, I said!"

"Never, Rukia", said Ichigo. "I carry you, end of discussion." Ichigo grabbed tighter around Rukia's legs to show that he was serious. But not so hard that he harmed her.

Rukia sighed annoyed but put her arms around Ichigo's neck so that she would not fall backward and hit herself more depraved. She looked at Ichigo's hair, wondering why she let him do this to her? If someone came on them, she was as good as dead ... So why risk it all by going out into deep water?

Because I'm tired of getting treated, the way that I'm getting treated on ... Said a voice to her.

Could it really be that easy?

No, indeed, it was not. If you are getting beaten day in and day out for six years, it is not so easy. Rukia did not know how she would get Byakuya to quit, how she could get away without him finding her and either pull her back to Seireitei or kill her directly at the place she would have tried to escape to.

She knew he could do it, without the slightest hesitation.

"You are very quiet, Rukia. Are you sure you're okay?" Ichigo turned his head and looked up at Rukia.

She looked away, afraid that he would be seeing all of her emotions reflect in her eyes.

"I'm fine, do not worry. I was just ... thinking."

"On what happened earlier today?"

At first Rukia did not answer. She sobbed and wiped away the tears before they reached her cheeks. "Yes ... and some other things also ..."

Ichigo stopped. He sat down Rukia on the ground and bent down on his knees before her. He tried to make eye contact with Rukia, but she looked in a different direction. She knew very well what it was Ichigo thought about trying to do, and she did not want it to happen.

"Rukia, why are you doing this to yourself? Has this person who beats you said bad things about yourself that you believe in? Is that so? Why can't you open yourself to me? I can not help you unless you open up for me, Rukia. You do not need to tell me everything right now; I understand that it is difficult for you. But you can at least tell me how long you've been through this hell you live in and why you do not want to tell me about it? I want nothing more than to help you get out of this hell that you call "your life". You deserve something better." Ichigo took Rukia's hands in hers and went to look at her until she looked back at him.

"I ... If I talk too much and someone hears me and tells Nii-sama ... He will certainly kill me ... You do not understand, Ichigo! He has hated me for six years ... Six years! He says I am weak, pathetic and that I should be glad that he still lets me be in his house ... No other wants to take care of me ..."

Now couldn't Rukia stop the tears from flowing from her eyes. She put her hands over her face and wept silently while Ichigo looked at her hunched and weeping figure. He felt for Rukia, since some of the feelings he had seen reflected in her eyes, he had felt many times since his mother died several years ago.

Arms were around Rukia and she heard Ichigo's voice. "I'm here, Rukia. Let everything out. I will protect you from this "Nii-sama", I promise you that."

3


	5. Chapter 5

The pain, the excruciating pain. It was everywhere on her body, it ate her both externally and internally. Please take it away ... Anyone make it stop, please ... What was that? A hand on her leg, what did it? Something cold, was it water that blundered on her sore body?

Rukia slowly opened her eyes, but had to turn them in half when the bright light struck her. Where was she? She could not remember anything other than how she had cried with Ichigo's arms around her the night before ... What had happened after that? Had she fainted from exhaustion?

"Rukia, how are you now?" She heard a voice ask from her leg. Where also the worst pain came from.

"Where am I? What is wrong with my leg? It hurts ..." she asked, with faint voice. She was still too tired to open her eyes and see who it was who took care of her. Was it that Byakuya had found her outside the house and who now took care of her because he regretted what he did to her the day before? If it was not him, who could it be?

"You are in the person you call Nii-sama's, house. Your leg got a big hit when you fell. I think you've sprained it. That is why it hurts, plus it was already damaged from yesterday." Ichigo looked up from Rukia's swollen leg up on her.

Rukia felt that she was about to panic. She turned hot and cold in turns, and her heart was pumping like a mad in her chest. _In Nii-sama's house!_ He could come in any minute and see them together! He would kill them both without the slightest hesitation, entirely ruthless; he would go berserk at the two of them without they would have the slightest chance to defend themselves.

"Ichigo, out ... If Nii-sama sees us ... He will kill you without blinking an eye!" Rukia sat up but gasped and groaned at once of pain when her wounded body protested against the rapid movement.

Byakuya had hurt her more than she first thought, so much was certain.

"Do not worry, he's not here. I saw him leave the house a few minutes ago. He went to practice, I think. He had his Zanpaktou with him."

"But ... How did I then get here in the first place, if it was not Nii-sama who found me outside the house where I remember I found myself last night with you before everything goes black? I do not remember anything from when I fell and sprained my foot to when I woke up here. Do not say you carried me all the way...?" Rukia felt her cheeks began to heat when she thought about the trouble she had caused Ichigo to get him to carry her to her own bed and to then have to take care of her as a nurse!

Rukia looked so embarrassed that Ichigo had to smile at the sight. "You passed out not too long after you fell. As you probably remember you started to sob, and it was not long after that you fainted. I would think it was a mixture of exhaustion and pain. When you passed out I brought you here and lay you down on the bed. The moment I heard a sound that came from the room next to yours so I jumped out through the window and hid behind the wall to the person who came in so he would not see me. I heard that there was a man who came to you and said your name before he leaned over you and stroked your hair, as if he was sad about something. Then I heard that you said "Nii-sama", and given how happy you sounded in your voice when he said your name, I assume you smiled. As if you were happy to have him there with you ..."

Ichigo went silence and looked at Rukia with really sad eyes. Rukia looked back at Ichigo, but with confused eye. Why did he watch her like that? Had she done something that he would not tell her?

"Ichigo, what is it?" Asked Rukia and surprised both herself and Ichigo by taking his hand.

She had not thought of doing it, but when she saw Ichigo's sad face, it was as if she somehow felt sorry for him and wanted to comfort him. She did not even know why he was sad, but it did not matter. The most important thing was that she by comforting him back could repay some of the enormous debt that she had towards Ichigo. He had done so much for her already and what sort of person would she be if she did not gave back the service?

"Well ..." Ichigo looked down at their intertwined hands before going on. "Yesterday you told me that this so-called "Nii-sama" hits you, but when he came to you yesterday ... You smiled. I'm so confused, Rukia ... One minute you say that Nii-sama is evil, but in the next, you are so happy to even hear his voice? I understand nothing." Ichigo shook his head and looked up at Rukia with a confused expression in his beautiful face.

So Rukia told him everything. How she had lived as the "happy family" with Byakuya and Hisana six years ago before Hisana had died in a fatal disease. How Byakuya had stayed in his room day in and day out without talking to anyone, not even her.

"But why did he start to hate you so much after your sister's death?" asked Ichigo Rukia when she was done telling.

"He thinks I killed Hisana ..." Whispered Rukia and released her grip of Ichigo's hand. Oddly enough, she lacked the sense of their hands close together. Ichigo's hand had seemed so strong and warm in her little hand that Rukia wanted to feel more of the security that she knew that Ichigo could give her.

Ichigo looked at Rukia with big eyes. "What?" He almost shouted, but lowered his voice at once so that no one around would hear him. He knew what kind of circus it would be if someone in Seireitei found out that he was there.

"How can he? I mean, you did not do it ... Did you?"

Rukia shook her head slowly and then closed her eyes as memories flooded over her. Memories that she would rather forget altogether, as they only made her feel worse than she already did. They were just too painful.

"No, I did not. I would never have done it, even how hard she asked me ..."

The sun shone in from the window above Hisana's head, but it was as if she couldn't feel it. She was cold and coughed every now and then. Her body was heavy and she had trouble just to sit up.

Also how much water she drank, it was as if it never reached her throat, it was always dry and asked for more to drink. She felt as dry as a desert, even though she got too much liquid.

Byakuya visited her frequently. She was delighted with his visit, but also sad when she saw how much he seemed to grow old for each time he visited her. It was as if he turned a year older every time he saw her pain. She knew that he was praying that her health would be better, but she also knew that she would not become better, just worse.

She looked out through the window when she heard the door open. As she slowly turned her head, she knew already that it was her little sister that was there to see how she felt. She always had such light and cautious steps.

"Rukia", she said in a voice so low that it sounded as if she whispered. "My dear sister, I am so glad to see that you are here and decided to visit me."

She got a little smile back from Rukia who sat down next to her. "How are you today, sister?"

"I get worse and worse for every day, Rukia. You know I can not stand it. I want you to help me get rid of this pain. Please, Rukia, I beg you! I do it because I love you and know you are stronger than Byakuya. He would never be able to do what I now ask you. Please, for my sake, put an end to my misery because I can not see your faces every time you come in here and hope I feel better. It will not happen because I am dying, Rukia."

"Sister, you know I can not do what you ask of me. I am not strong, I can not do that. Also, how much I want you to stop suffering and even how much I love you, I still can not do it. I'm so sorry ..."

"So she said that day ... and the next day she was dead ... I am pretty sure that Nii-sama heard our conversation. When Hisana died the day after, I guess he thought I had changed my mind and killed her, as she had asked me to ... But I never did. I just couldn't, even how much I knew how she suffered ..." Rukia finished her story and looked at Ichigo with wet eyes.

"I miss her so much ..."

Without a word Ichigo stretched out his arms and Rukia slid into them without hesitation. She felt Ichigo put his arms around her back and how they pushed her closer to their owner. She felt how also Ichigo started to cry; the tears landed on her cheek and got mixed with hers. How his heart pounded against hers, how they seemed to share one another's innermost secrets.

Rukia knew that Ichigo was crying because of his dead mother, but probably also because he felt sorry for her, how she was treated and because of her sad past. Then she realized something else.

_Ichigo did not do it just because he felt sorry for her._ _He did it because he loved her._

But did she love him back? She was not sure; a lot of emotions went through her body, so it was hard to tell. Rukia closed her eyes, took a deep breath and tried to calm her emotions down. After a while, her heart stopped pounding so hard in her chest and she could concentrate better on her emotions.

What she felt was thankfulness, sadness and ... love, towards the man she had saved and who now was trying to save her back.

She opened her eyes and looked up at Ichigo who still held her close to him with his embrace. He was still crying, and she slowly stroked the tears away from his eyes with a finger.

Ichigo looked at her all the time, but said nothing. As if he was afraid to destroy the time they shared. He saw how Rukia began to smile and felt how also he started to smile back at the woman whom he loved so much after just one meeting.

Kurosaki Ichigo had fallen in love with Kuchiki Rukia from the first moment he laid his eyes on her, without him being aware of it.

"Ichigo ..." Rukia whispered before she leaned closer towards him.

"Rukia ..." He whispered in return and met Rukia's lips in their first kiss...

3


	6. Chapter 6

She was so happy! How long was it since she had last felt like this? It must have been shortly before her sister died.

Rukia lay in her bed in Seireitei and tried to sleep but it was really hard. She could barely stop thinking about Ichigo, his beautiful smile. On his amber eyes that made her astray, and on his lips against hers. How wonderful they tasted. And how he held her. When she was in his arms, it was as if time stood still. It felt like if it was just the two of them in the world. As if she had finally found her home.

No angry Byakuya, no sorrow, no regret. When she was with Ichigo, she felt ... complete.

When he went back to the real world, her heart had cried. She had asked him to stay a little longer, but he had to go back, he said. After all, he had his own family and duty in Karakura, not as she that had her in Seireitei.

Oh, how she wished she could accompany him to the real world! She could live with Ichigo and his family. She would be welcomed with open arms, she knew it. Ichigo had told her much about his family, and by what she had heard, she knew that Ichigo's father and sisters would just be happy for them. If need be they would probably be able to rearrange the furniture in the house so that Rukia could have her own room.

But while the idea of getting to live with Ichigo and his family was very attractive, she could not just leave Renji and the others without a word of farewell. And how would Byakuya react? Would he come after her? Would he challenge Ichigo into a fight unless he did not hand over her willingly?

Yes, he would. He would not just sit in Seireitei and twiddle his thumbs. He would haunt her until he found her. After all, she was the only family he had left.

Rukia was also worried about Ichigo. He took a huge risk just by loving her. What they shared was forbidden, they both knew it too well. If someone caught them, everything would be lost. Rukia would probably lose her life, and Ichigo? Yes, anything could happen to him. Either they would just ban him from Seireitei, watch over him, or kill him too.

Kurosaki Ichigo and Kuchiki Rukia shared a forbidden love that could end in any way. Both happy and unhappy.

"Rukia, come here!" Rukia heard Byakuya shout from his room.

"I am coming, Nii-sama!" Rukia sighed and sat up carefully not to harm herself because her body had still not recover quite from Byakuya's assault the other day.

Byakuya looked out the window at the dark night sky when Rukia came into the room. She bowed in the doorway, waiting for Byakuya to speak. She knew that if she spoke without first having been spoken to, it could at worst result in another hit.

He nodded toward the empty chair beside him and Rukia sat down beside him. She looked carefully up against Byakuya and saw to her amazement how he smiled. Not an evil smile, it was actually a happy one.

"Good news, Rukia. I just got a message from the Captain Commander. He wants you to join Ukitake's Company. Apparently, Renji has said a lot of great things about you to the Captain Commander who got him to give you a chance to show off what you really can do. Ukitake wants to see you tomorrow." Byakuya's smile grew wider as he looked at Rukia and she could also see how his eyes sparkled, something they had not done in a long time.

"Really, Nii-sama?" Rukia asked with surprise in her voice and wide eyes.

When Byakuya nodded, Rukia smiled back and hugged him without thinking. She was just waiting for Byakuya to hit her for having thrown herself upon him without first asking. But to her great surprise she felt Byakuya hugged her back and stroked her hair. "I'm proud of you, Rukia."

"Ah, you must be Kuchiki Rukia! Welcome to the 13th Company. My name is Juushiro Ukitake, the captain of this company." Ukitake smiled and shook Rukia's hand.

"Thank you, Captain Juushiro. I'm pretty sure I will enjoy working here." Rukia replied, smiling back.

"Oh, call me Ukitake! Everyone does around here." Ukitake smiled at Rukia. "Let me show you around."

Rukia followed Ukitake around the 13th Company and listened intently as he told her about the place she would live in a few weeks ahead before the decision if she really would fit in the 13th Company would be made.

Ichigo should see me now, Rukia thought and smiled to her as she walked next to Ukitake. I'm pretty sure he would be happy for me.

A smile could be seen playing on Rukia's lips and her eyes twinkled in a way that nobody in the Seireitei had seen them sparkle since her sister died. No one but herself knew the reason for this sudden hilarity, and it was fortunate for Rukia. She knew that if Ukitake would know why she was so happy, he would take her back to Byakuya as quickly as possible.

After she had been shown around and said hello to everyone in the 13th seat, (her new colleagues), it had been so late that it was time for dinner. Rukia, who was quite accustomed to eat alone, sat down at an empty table, though all the others sat at other tables around her.

Then she heard Ukitake's voice from the table in front of her. "Kuchiki, come here and sit with us. You should not have to sit there all alone."

Rukia's cheeks were flushed and she felt like she just wanted to sink through the floor. "Uh... No, thank you, Captain. I like to eat alone, I always do that."

She could have bitten her tongue of. God, such an incredibly stupid thing to say! The first day in a new company and she blew it already!

Ukitake, who noticed how embarrassed Rukia turned, just kept smiling. He left his seat at the table, walked up to Rukia and took her plate. "Come on, Kuchiki."

"Y-yes, sir ..." said Rukia and Ukitake followed her to his table where she sat down beside him.

Fairly fast t she found herself starting to talk and laugh with all the others around the table. They listened to her when she talked and laughed when she told a joke. Especially Ukitake seemed to like her. Rukia saw in the corner of her eye that he always smiled when she talked and sometimes he actually nodded, as if he wanted to encourage her to keep talking.

As she lay in her new bed in the 13th seat bedroom she thought back on the day that had been and everything new that had happened. This much fun she had not had in a long time and she thought it was a pity that she could not tell about it to Ichigo.

Or could she...?

The stars shone from a dark sky and it was quiet in most of the houses. Except one, where the light was still on in a room upstairs.

A young man's face could be seen in the window. He looked up at the stars and it seemed as if he was smiling. His mouth moved, which showed that he spoke with either himself or something that you could not see with the naked eye.

"Rukia, I'm sorry that I leaved you, but I had to go back to Karakura, to my family and my friends. I wish I could take you with me, but we both know that you have your duties in Seireitei and I have mine here as a substitute Shinigami." Ichigo sighed and closed his eyes.

He saw Rukia in front of him. How she smiled and laughed at something he said. Her purple eyes that looked at him, how they seemed to bewitch him, make him to look in them and just ... be.

Ichigo really felt how much his heart was aching for Rukia. How much he missed her and wanted her close to him. How he wanted to make her happy and be there for her when she was sad. He wanted to take her far away from Seireitei, escape to a world where they could both be happy and live together without grief and exploit.

"One thing I promise you, Rukia, and that is that I will get stronger so that I can defeat "Nii-sama" and relieve you from a life of exploitation and abuse. I promise that I will beat him even if I die, because you deserve so much better. I love you, Kuchiki Rukia, and nothing can change that."

"And I love you, Kurosaki Ichigo", Ichigo heard a voice say behind him.

He felt two arms lay around him in a warm embrace, but he did not have to turn around to know who was behind him.

"Rukia ..." he whispered and smiled.

3


	7. Chapter 7

"Byakuya", said Rukia and continued to hold Ichigo.

"What?" Ichigo turned his head and looked down at Rukia's hair, since her face was deeply buried in his back.

"Nii-sama, his real name is Kuchiki Byakuya ..." Rukia said, so softly that it sounded like a whisper.

Ichigo did not answer. Instead, he looked back out through the window. Why did Rukia tell her abusers name now since she had not wanted to tell him before when he asked her about him? Had something happened in Seireitei after he had left that had her change her mind? Had Byakuya beat her again?

Ichigo turned and hugged Rukia back. He rocked her back and forth to show her that he was there for her.

Rukia smiled and gave Ichigo a little kiss as he answered. She could feel how he kissed her with longing, as if he had missed her lips so much that he had forgotten what they actually tasted like.

"Ichigo", she said when the kiss broke. "I heard what you said about Nii-sama. I will not let you fight him! We must find another way because I will not let Nii-sama take you away from me now that I have finally met you!"

"Rukia, do not worry. I have found a way to get stronger. I can defeat Byakuya, I know it. I am doing this because I want him to realize how he acts towards you and I would also like to show him my love to you." Ichigo stroked Rukia's cheek and smiled down at her.

Rukia shook her head. "You do not need to prove anything. Neither to me or Nii-sama."

"I know, but you and I both know that sooner or later I will be forced to. We can not keep our relationship secret forever, Rukia. It is not fair to either of us; you know that as much as I do." Ichigo took Rukia in his arms and kissed her hair.

He heard her sigh and felt her hug him back, hard. "I know Ichigo, I know."

Ichigo grabbed Rukia's arms and legs and went to the bed where he sat down with Rukia in the knee on the bed. He held her close and rubbed his nose into her hair, cheeks and neck. Anything to get her to think of something else.

It seemed like it worked, Rukia started giggling and shot Ichigo's head away from her neck.

"Stop, that tickles, Ichigo!" She laughed and gave him a little kiss.

"Oh, really?" Ichigo grinned and began tickling Rukia.

"No, Ichigo! Not there, I'm so ticklish there!" Rukia laughed more and tried to get Ichigo to stop by hitting his arms, but it was useless. Ichigo had decided one thing, and then it was not so easy to get him to change his mind.

Rukia fell backward to the middle of the bed with Ichigo over her which had now begun to blow air into her neck and face. She closed her eyes and folded her arms over them so that Ichigo could not breathe there anymore. But she soon realized her mistake, instead of blowing in her face Ichigo was now down at her stomach.

"Ichigo, I warn you ..." Began Rukia and opened her eyes.

Ichigo just laughed and grinned before he put his mouth on Rukia's stomach and pushed the air out of it, which in turn had Rukia to burst into laughter.

"Ichigo, please!" She screamed with laughter, while tears streamed down her cheeks because of all the laughter.

"What is it, Rukia?" Said Ichigo with sugar sweet and innocent voice. "Is something bothering you?"

"It certainly is! Stop tickle me before I die of laughter"; Rukia said with, (what she hoped was), a serious voice.

"Okay, okay. I'll stop now when you asked me so nicely", Ichigo said and laughed.

He lies down next to Rukia and put his arm around her waist. He smiled more, and gave Rukia's cheek a gentle kiss. He heard how Rukia started giggling again, and soon he too laughed. Her laughter was so infectious.

"Oh, this much fun, I have not had in a long time ..." Rukia said with a cheerful and smiling voice after they had caught up their breaths after laughing so much.

"The same goes for me, Rukia." Ichigo nodded and looked at his girlfriend who he loved so much.

I do not care what others say and think. I love Rukia and nobody else. She is my life, my sun, my angel. If I must sacrifice my life to help her live a happy life, I will do it, thought Ichigo.

Rukia turned around and looked at Ichigo. "Do you know something? Today I started in the 13th Company's 13th seat. Ukitake and the others are so cool!"

Ichigo looked so bewildered that Rukia had to laugh. She explained to Ichigo how Byakuya had been telling her the wonderful news and how she the next day had been visiting the 13th Company. How Ukitake had showed her around and how he had acted around the dinner table. How all had laughed, listened and talked to her.

"So respected that I was there I have not felt since my sister died. I can be myself with them and I do not pretend."

"I'm really happy for you, Rukia. But I'm really surprised that Byakuya let you be in Ukitake's company. I thought he just wanted you home and slave for him."

The smile from Rukia's lips disappeared immediately as soon as Ichigo's words sank into her brain. She, a slave? "Slave ...? No, I'm not ..." she began, but was interrupted by Ichigo.

"Rukia, you are. You have to do all the work yourself, he will hit you when he thinks you are doing something wrong and he has not let you be with someone else in Seireitei besides Renji, until now. Why didn't you participate in Ukitake's or some other companies in the past? Or, does the Captain Commander have to accept you first?"

"I'm not sure ... But you're right, Ichigo. Nii-sama has not allowed me to see someone other than himself and Abarai Renji, who is his vice-captain and my best and only friend in Seireitei."

Ichigo stroked Rukia's hair gently as she spoke, and nodded as she finished talking. "I understand. But I'm still glad that you finally get to come out of that house! Maybe Byakuya allows you to be alone now that you are not near him."

"I know, and I'm excited about it. Now Nii-sama does not have so many reasons to feel disappointed with me any longer. If I am only kind to Ukitake and the others Nii-sama will be proud ..." The last whispered Rukia most to herself and looked like she got lost in her own thoughts.

"Rukia, you okay?" Her thoughts were interrupted by Ichigo's voice. "You look like you are far away."

"Oh, sorry. I guess I got a bit lost ..." Rukia smiled in embarrassment.

Ichigo smiled and gave Rukia a little kiss before saying, "Baka", and hugged Rukia.

Rukia herself, laid her face on Ichigo's chest. Now it was a happy smile instead of a embarrassed, and she sighed a little.

"Are you okay?" Asked Ichigo again.

"Yes, I'm just happy", said Rukia. "I love you, Kurosaki Ichigo."

"I know, because I love you too, Kuchiki Rukia."

2


	8. Chapter 8

"Roar, Benihime." A red light came towards Ichigo at full speed and it was just about to hit him when he managed to jump away from it.

"Good speed there, Kurosaki-san! Now we will make it a little harder."

Ichigo found himself in an underground room under "Urahara Shop" and trained with the owner of the store, Kisuke Urahara. Ichigo had asked Urahara to help him get stronger so that he could defeat Byakuya to exempt Rukia.

Urahara had initially not wanted to help Ichigo, when he knew how strong Byakuya was. The training that Ichigo needed to even have a chance to defeat Byakuya could take several years to achieve! But Ichigo had not given up trying and finally Urahara had agreed to train Ichigo, on one condition.

That Urahara could decide the rules.

Ichigo had agreed to this, when he knew that Urahara was the one who knew what he needed to train to become stronger and defeat Byakuya. He had no choice either; there was no one else who could have helped him. As Ichigo knew there were no other Shinigamis in Karakura except him and Urahara.

Urahara had brought Ichigo down a ladder leading down to the underground room where they now found themselves in. Once down there Urahara had told Ichigo that he had built this arena just in case an occasion like this would show up. Ichigo had been impressed when he saw the job Urahara put into the training ground. There was plenty of room to do all sorts of training in there, even though the landscape might seem a little too depressing.

The only thing in there was rocks and sand. _A lot of sand._

Ichigo had commented on this to Urahara, which only had smiled shrewdly to Ichigo. "I did not lay down so much work on the environment as I did on at all manage to get this training arena done. By the way, I think it is quite charming, don't you?"

Ichigo had just stared at Urahara as if he was crazy. Charming, this? No way! "Are you crazy? How can you call this charming! It's just one big pile of sand, the whole thing!"

To this Urahara just continued to smile at Ichigo before he with a speed that Ichigo had not seen in any other before, attacked Ichigo with his Zanpaktou, Benihime.

It had been the beginning of Ichigo's hard training.

"Okay, I'm ready, Urahara!" Ichigo stood with separated legs and the sword pointing straight ahead, straight against Urahara.

Urahara smiled and waved his fan in front of his face. He lifted his sword, and once again the red light came towards Ichigo. The only difference this time was that Ichigo did not try to run away. Instead he raised his sword and shouted:

"Hah!"

When the light was right in front of Ichigo, he hit it with his sword, which made Urahara's attack flew in small pieces down to the ground. The explosion that came just a few seconds after meant that both rocks and sand that was in the vicinity blew away in all directions.

Urahara put his arm over his eyes so he would not get sand in the eyes. When he dared to remove the arm, he watched as Ichigo approached him with great speed. He managed to lift his sword just before Ichigo attacked him.

Ichigo screamed and threw his sword against Urahara's again and again, until Urahara finally fought back. Now they were talking! Ichigo laughed and felt the Shinigami blood in him began to boil and how it seemed to give him even greater powers.

It seemed as though Urahara felt it as well. His eyes grew large with surprise and he both had to work harder and faster to avoid being beaten by Ichigo's sword.

"What's wrong, Urahara?" Ichigo asked with a grin. "Do you have problems keeping up?"

Ichigo's grin got bigger when he saw an opening in Urahara's guard. He lifted his leg, and before Urahara could react, Ichigo had already provided him such a hard kick to the side that he flew a few meters straight into a giant rock that was destroyed by his body weight plus Ichigo's hard kick.

"Oh, Kurosaki-san, you didn't had to kick so hard ..." Said Urahara and got up from the last bits of the cliff that now wasn't much more than a big pile of small stones. "Think of my age."

Ichigo laughed and looked at Urahara. "Come on now, Urahara-san, we both know that you are not the least bit damaged. That hit will not leave so much as a small bruise on you."

Urahara smiled at Ichigo and walked over to him. "I must admit that that kick was really good. I'm really surprised that you actually managed to find an opening."

Ichigo, who had raised his sword once more against Urahara, smiled. "You are more open than you think."

"Oh, it looks like I'm really getting old."

Urahara attacked Ichigo again, that blocked. He swung his sword when Urahara withdrew a short distance away to prepare for another attack, and Urahara jumped aside to avoid being hit by Ichigo's sword tip. Ichigo was not slow to follow; he would not let Urahara get away so easily.

"Come back, Kisuke, I'm not done with you yet!" Ichigo screamed and attacked Urahara from above.

Urahara blocked an attack by sending out a binding spell that looked like a small blue energy wave, against Ichigo when he came towards him. Ichigo hit the sword against it and it disappeared, but Urahara had counted on that. He materialized behind Ichigo's back and hit it with his elbow so that Ichigo flew down to the ground.

"Kurosaki-san, you are more open than you think", said Urahara and laughed.

"Ha-ha", Ichigo stood up and brushed the dust off his Shinigami clothing. "Very funny Urahara-san."

"I only speak the truth. Let us now take a break, you are out of focus. I can feel it in your spiritual energy."

"No, no break!" Ichigo screamed and flew up to Urahara. "I must continue to fight, I have to get stronger!"

The swords hit each other and vibrated when their masters was trying to overcome the other's strength. It soon turned out that Urahara's Benihime was stronger than Ichigo's sword, because when Urahara hit Ichigo's Zanpaktou; it broke into several small pieces. All that remained was the handle.

Urahara pushed Ichigo away, who touched the remains of what was left of that just a few seconds ago had been his Zanpaktou. "We will take a break, whether you like it or not, Kurosaki-san. Although I have to tie you up, we will take a break. You are unfocused and have trouble controlling your emotions."

Ichigo looked up from his broken sword to Urahara. His eyes were filled with rage. What was it that this man did not understand? He had come here to fight and become stronger, not to take some fucking breaks! He would continue to fight whether he had a sword or not.

"Urahara-san, you promised to train me! Why won't you train me then?" shouted Ichigo to Urahara while his hands were shaking with suppressed rage. Most of all he would like to fly at him and beat him bloody.

Ichigo froze when these thoughts raced through his brain. Why did he think so? Urahara was right, wasn't he? He was unfocused, but just had not wanted to face it. Where did this anger come from? Ichigo had never before felt like this, he had always managed to control himself, but this time it was something that made him completely lose control of himself.

What it was, Ichigo could not say, but he was afraid of the answer.

"Not before you can control yourself, Kurosaki-san. You have to remove the anger and hatred that is in your heart when you fight." Urahara's voice interrupted Ichigo's confused thoughts and he looked up again at the man before him.

"I'm not ..." Began Ichigo but Urahara raised his hand and got Ichigo to silence.

"Well, you are. Just a few minutes ago you were fighting really well; you even managed to get some really great hits on me. But when you took out your victory a little too fast on, you had begun to think of someone or something that made you angry. Your blood began to boil faster; your muscles grew and made you stronger. But", Urahara put his hand on Ichigo's shoulder. "You filled your heart with hatred. If you can not control your heart you can not fight. If your heart is full of anger or hatred, you can class yourself as dead, Kurosaki Ichigo."

"He's right, Ichigo", said a voice inside Ichigo's head.

"W-what! Who are you ...?" Ichigo asked the voice.

"Don't you know that? I am your Zanpaktou ..."

"Who, you said? I can not hear your name." Ichigo looked around but could not see anyone else other than Urahara.

Then something happened. All around Ichigo disappeared and the next moment he found himself lying on the back, looking up against a blue sky with white clouds. Around him there was something that looked like buildings. They were blue to the paint and had windows without glass.

"What? Where the hell am I?" Ichigo asked himself.

"You're in your own soul." Ichigo turned his head toward the voice and saw an old man with brown hair, glasses and a brown, long jacket standing on a high, black pole looking down at Ichigo who still lay supine on the floor.

"Excuse me, but who are you? And what do you mean by "my soul"?"

"That is correct. My name is ..." Said the old man.

Ichigo stared at the old man. Why could he not hear his name? It was his own Zanpaktou after all. Surely he should be able to hear his name, or...?

"You can not hear me, can you? That's because you do not let me say it. You must open yourself to me, Ichigo. Stop being afraid, believe in yourself. You must tell me that you really want me to kill. Can you hear my name now? It is ..."

"Kurosaki-san?" Urahara asked and looked at Ichigo who was standing still with his head bowed, as if he was listening to something that only he could hear.

Ichigo looked up at Urahara. For a brief moment Ichigo's eyes became blue. "Urahara-san, I must ask that you move. I do not know if I can hold back", said Ichigo before lifting his severed Zanpaktou and shouted:

"Zangetsu!"

Ichigo lifted up his sword in the air before him with a powerful swing came back down to the ground, which began to shake vigorously. Urahara had just time to put a shield in front of him to not get hurt before the power of Ichigo's attack reached the point where he stood. He felt his hat flew off his head and when the worst of the shaking was over, he looked up. One corner of the shield was gone. "If I had not used the shield you had been taking at least one of my arms, Kurosaki-san."

When Urahara looked up from his shield, he saw how a giant chasm had been building between him and Ichigo. It was not strange if a piece of my shield broke down, considering the force that must have caused that abyss, thought Urahara separately to himself.

Ichigo himself was kneeling with Zangetsu in his hands. The sword was straight down, tied to the ground where the pit began. It had now changed shape. Instead of being required to have been a giant, gray and clumsy sword, it had now turned into a long, heavy and very sharp Zanpaktou which glistened in gray and black.

Ichigo had now come another step closer to being able to save Rukia.

4


	9. Chapter 9

"Zangetsu, my new Zanpaktou ..."

Ichigo sat in a room in the Urahara Shop, with his new Zanpaktou, Zangetsu in his knee. The blade glistened and seemed to talk to him. Ichigo thought he could hear a faint whisper from the blade and it made him feel closer to his Zanpaktou.

When Ichigo had looked up after the gulf he had formed when he shouted his Zanpaktou's name, Urahara had smiled and waved with his fan. Ichigo realized he had passed the test and that Urahara was proud of him. He had, after all, gone from being a rookie to hear his Zanpaktou's name after just a few days. As Ichigo had understood there were those who never heard their Zanpaktou's names and thus never became stronger.

"Great, Kurosaki-san! You've finally come one step closer to control yourself and your heart. Now that you have heard your Zanpaktou's name, you can get even closer to each other. This means that you have become stronger and you can still become even stronger. A bond between a Shinigami and his / her Zanpaktou is very important. Without your Zanpaktou, you are nothing. If you can not hear your Zanpaktou's name, you can not get stronger. You can not fight and you probably know that if you can't fight you can't win."

Ichigo had listened to Urahara's words and taken in everything. He had never thought of that Zangetsu was so important to him. Until today, he just thought that Zangetsu was an ordinary sword, as any other ordinary weapons at any time. But after today, his views on his Zanpaktou had changed and he had really begun to realize how important his Zanpaktou really was for him.

"Thank you, Zangetsu. Thank you for you trusting me enough to let me use your powers. With your strength, I am now so much closer to defeat Kuchiki Byakuya."

"No problem, Ichigo. I'm glad you finally opened up for me and let me tell my name to you. I have much more powers to give you, but you are not ready for it yet. You have to get used to this power more first."

"More powers? You mean I can become even stronger than I am now?" Ichigo looked at his Zanpaktou with a surprised look.

"That is correct. You will understand later when you are ready for it", said Zangetsu to Ichigo with his deep, dark, whispering voice.

Ichigo closed his eyes and saw Rukia in front of him. He felt his heart warm up and his lips turn up against his cheeks into a smile.

"Do not worry, Rukia. Now that I have get even more power, I feel so much closer than before to show Byakuya what will happen when you hurt the people I love. I'll show him that he can't and will not get away with this. He must understand how much I love you ..." Ichigo had closed his eyes while he talked, but now he opened them.

Again, his eyes became blue for a second and he clenched his hand into a fist. He put his hand to his face and said, with a serious and deep voice "I promise you that I will defeat you, Kuchiki Byakuya! This time I will not let you get away!"

"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki." Rukia put her Zanpaktou on the ground, picked it up and did the same thing two more times.

A white light molded under Ukitake's feet. He jumped off, just as a barrier of ice flew up where he had stood just a second ago. Rukia pointed her sword at Ukitake's new position and another ice barrier was formed. This time it touched Ukitake's left foot, which immediately turned into ice.

"Not bad, Kuchiki", said Ukitake and broke the ice on his foot by chopping his sword against it.

Rukia smiled by the compliment. "Thank you, Captain. I'm glad to hear that you think I do well."

Ukitake landed on the ground in front of Rukia and put his hand on her shoulder. He could see how Rukia blushed and looked down on the grass under her feet.

They were in the 13th Company training site, a small open hill with trees and the blue sky above them.

"Rukia, look at me." Ukitake lifted Rukia's chin and looked at her with a worried father's gaze.

"Yes, Captain ..." Rukia said softly, watching Ukitake in his eyes.

"Is everything okay? When you fight, you are very concentrated; listening on your Zanpaktou and give all you got. But then it's as if you turn off that side of yourself and open a side that is afraid, lacking in confidence and not seem to like it when people are near or touches her. Even if it's just a hand on her shoulder, showing that she is doing a good job", Ukitake said to Rukia, who felt that she would start crying at any second.

All she wanted was to be respected. She wanted to get stronger and show Nii-sama that she was not a sissy! And most important of all: she wanted to be loved again. Loved by Byakuya, like six years ago when everything had been normal.

"I ... I'm sorry, sir ... I do not know why I get so. Maybe Sode no Shirayuki gives me courage and makes me feel strong enough to just relax and concentrate on my mission as a Shinigami." Rukia looked down at her white sword that seemed to sparkle in light from the sun, as if she wanted to tell Rukia that she would always be there.

"I know what you mean, Kuchiki. The sword is your key tool in a battle. If you can not get along with your Zanpaktou you will not be able to fight. If you can not use your Zanpaktou while in a fight, you are as good as dead. The bond between you and Sode no Shirayuki is stronger than you can possible imagine."

"Nii-sama has told me that many times. I do this because I want to show him how strong I've become with Sode no Shirayuki's help. I do not want to hear him call me a sissy again!" Rukia felt the blood in her body began to boil and how her voice grew louder with each new word that escaped her mouth.

She was so tired of everything. After Rukia met Ichigo, she had begun to realize how tired she had been in the past year. From now on she would show Byakuya in a way where no blood would be spilled, how she had been feeling all these years and open his eyes to the real world as she saw it.

"Rukia, calm down! What do you mean? Did Byakuya treat you bad? Has he hurt you?"

Now Rukia did not know what to say. She knew she had gone too far, that the words she had spoken never should have leaved her lips. What should she do now? Would she tell Ukitake how terrible she had had it all these years? Or should she blame her speech out of something else?

Her head said no, her heart, yes. She decided that this time she would follow her heart.

"Yes, he has ... He beat me and make me do all the housework myself. Sometimes when he is in a good mood, he helps me. But it's not very often, if I must be honest." In order to prove that what she said was true, she lifted up her sleeve and showed Ukitake a huge bruise on her forearm.

The bruise had the shape of a hand.

"God ... It's terrible!" Ukitake grabbed Rukia's arm and looked closely at the bruise. "Why did he do this to you?"

In Ukitake's voice Rukia could hear a concern that she had not heard of anyone other than Ichigo when he first found out how she was treated. Ukitake's attention made her feel happy that at last there was someone else in the Seireitei who knew of her dark secret. Maybe she would finally be able to get out of the nightmare that she had so long lived in?

"He was mad at me when I told him I was tired and wanted to rest a little before I did the dishes." Rukia looked up at Ukitake with a specific expression. "But I will not let Nii-sama depress me more. I will show him, just wait."

Ukitake did not particularly persuade, but he let go of Rukia. "I like none of it. This must end, Rukia!"

3


	10. Chapter 10

There was silence in the 13th Company bedroom. Everyone was tired after a long day of training. Even Rukia slept, though she had told Ukitake about Byakuya's true side. Before she put her head on the pillow, she thought this would be a night that would mean only a few hours sleep, but to her surprise, she fell asleep almost directly.

After they had come back to the rest of the company members Ukitake had looked worried at her. However Rukia was pretending that she did not see and talked to another girl in her own age that had been a bit longer in the 13th Company than her, mostly to avoid having to meet Ukitake's anxious gaze. She could not bear to see the pain in his eyes whenever he looked at her after he found out her secret.

She did not regret that she had told the truth to Ukitake, quite the opposite. She felt relieved, as if a stone had lifted from her chest.

He had promised her not to tell anyone about it, and especially not to Byakuya that he knew what he did towards his deceased wife's sister. If he knew it would all just get worse, had Rukia tell Ukitake and he had nodded.

"_If that is what you want, Kuchiki."_

"_It is, captain._ _Do not worry; I have an idea how I can get Nii-sama to understand what he is doing._ _My sister did not want this to happen. She does not want_ _Nii-sama beating me._ _She would like him to take care of me. Train me; help me with how the house works. Make me smile, laugh, be there for me when I am sad. When I need someone to hug me and tell me that all will be fine."_

What she does not know is that I have already found all that stuff ... Had Rukia thought.

"_I guess you're right._ _I just hope you know what you are doing", had Ukitake told her and sighed deeply._

Rukia had just given him a smile and asked if they were done for the day. When Ukitake nodded, she had turned her back on him and gone back to the other in the 13th seat, and then went to bed when she felt how the sleep was pressing.

She opened her eyes, sat up from the bed she had slept in and listened. Was she wrong, or was someone in her room? She was pretty sure she had heard footsteps, or had she just imagined everything? Had she had a strange dream?

Rukia rubbed her eyes to get the tiredness out of them before she looked around the room. First she could not see anything suspicious, but all the furniture around her. But when her eyes began to become more accustomed to the darkness she could see faint signs of a human next to the window to her right.

The person was standing right next to the moonlight shining in from the window, which in turn made it even more difficult for Rukia to see who the body belonged to. Strange ... she thought. Why am I not afraid? This may be a thief or even a mad killer that wants to kill me. But instead of feeling scared, I feel ... safe. It must be...

Rukia's thoughts were interrupted by the shape at the window that started to walk towards her. At first she only saw a foot and an arm. The person was wearing a Shinigami dress and on his / her feet, a white sock with bright colored sandals. Same outfit as all Shinigami wore across Seireitei. But what did a Shinigami do in her room?

When the person took another step towards her, Rukia could see a slice of orange hair and amber colored eyes. Now Rukia was sure of who it was who came up to her and why she had felt so safe.

"Rukia ..." whispered Ichigo when Rukia could see him completely.

The moonlight that shone through the window at Ichigo did that his face fell into shadow, which meant that Rukia could not really see if Ichigo was worried, sad or happy. She decided to find out his temper and got up and went towards him.

Rukia walked towards Ichigo and stretched out her hand towards his face. When it touched Ichigo's cheek Rukia stopped. She lifted her head and looked up at her lover's face. His amber eyes met her purple and both smiled.

Rukia bent on her toes as she lifted her heels. She touched Ichigo's lips with her own and felt his lips push back against her.

Ichigo put his arms around Rukia's back and pushed her closer to him. He could feel her breasts press against him, and he blushed a little as he continued to kiss Rukia. He had missed her body against his so much that now that he finally had her in his arms again, I felt as if he could not get enough.

"I missed you so much ..." Ichigo whispered between the kisses.

"And I missed you ..." Whispered Rukia back.

Rukia broke the kiss and looked up at Ichigo. In his eyes, she could see a fighting spirit and desire that had never been there before. Something had happened in the real world that had made him both stronger and more determined.

"Ichigo, what has happened to you? You seem so ... different."

"Different? Oh, you saw that. Yes I have been training with Urahara under his store. Do you remember that you mentioned him in your letter to me that you wrote the night after you gave a bit of your powers to me?" Ichigo asked Rukia.

Not until now Rukia saw Ichigo's new sword. The blade shone when the moonlight hit it. It was the same length as Ichigo and the blade bent in a long arc. Its color was a mixture of black and white.

Ichigo noticed Rukia looked at his new Zanpaktou. "This is Zangetsu, my new Zanpaktou." Ichigo smiled down towards Rukia and took off his sword from his back before he handed the sword to Rukia so she could get a closer look at it.

Rukia's eyes widen when Zangetsu was closed down in her arms. It was heavy and when she tried to swing it, it only resulted in that she almost fell to the floor. She felt as stupid as she stood with a huge sword in his little hands.

"Oi, take it easy, Rukia." Ichigo laughed, and put an arm around Rukia's shoulders while he took Zangetsu from her hands.

Rukia felt her cheeks become hot and she tried to laugh off the whole thing. "Sorry Ichigo, I'll try to be more careful ..."

Ichigo smiled and kissed Rukia again. "I have wonderful news for you! Now that I and Zangetsu have come closer together, I have a better chance to defeat Byakuya. Isn't that wonderful news? Zangetsu has told me that he still have more to teach me and that I can be stronger than I am now."

Rukia looked at Ichigo with wild staring eyes. What did he said? How many times had she not told him that he would not fight against Nii-sama? He was going to get killed! She could not let it happen to Ichigo.

"Ichigo ..." Rukia looked up at Ichigo's smiling face.

Immediately upon their eyes made contact Ichigo stopped smile. He could see what Rukia was thinking about his eagerness to fight against Byakuya. He knew that she didn't want him to do it, but as he had told her before:

Even what Rukia thought and liked about it he knew that his and Byakuya's paths would cross a beautiful day and that they would fight once that day came.

Ichigo hugged Rukia again and rocked her back and forth. He kissed her hair and talked quietly with her. "Its okay, Rukia. Sorry I brought it up, but I'm just so glad to have finally gotten stronger because it means I can protect you much better now. I love you, Rukia. So much that I could die for you. I want you to be happy and live a good life together with people who love you and that you love back."

"I just want to live with you, Ichigo. You are my light, my guardian angel. You make me happy, makes me laugh and feel loved. Something that only two other people before you have given me. One of them is dead; the other has turned against me. I do not want to lose another person who makes me happy again", was Rukias answer.

Rukia hugged Ichigo tightly, burying her face in his chest. She drew in the smell of Ichigo and felt how she immediately became calm. She also felt how her lips moved into a smile and how her heart was beating calmly and slowly towards Ichigo's stomach.

So they stood for a long time before Rukia turned her head, smiled and kissed Ichigo again.

3


	11. Chapter 11

_**Warning: This chapter contains sex. If you do not like to read about sex, do not read this chapter.**_

Ichigo felt Rukia's lips against his own. He could feel the smell of her and also feel Rukia's heart thumping against his. It struck hard and fast, which could only mean one thing. A playful smile could become visible in Ichigo's face between his and Rukia's kisses.

Ichigo pressed his lips harder against Rukia's and put an arm around her back to get her body closer to his, and the other on her neck. Slowly, slowly he began to fondle her neck with his fingers, causing Rukia to shudder, he could feel. He grinned between a kiss and went on with what he did.

"Ichigo ..." Rukia whispered, biting Ichigo's lower lip gently.

Her body was full of shivers and she could feel a tingling sensation between her legs. She knew at once what it meant and, strangely, she felt ready for what she knew would come. She had no idea about if Ichigo's visit to her had had with his desire for her to do, or if he was worried about her.

In any case, nothing of that made any sense at all. The only thing Rukia wanted to do right now was to enjoy her and Ichigo's bodies pressed against each other and their lips explored each other with a hunger she never imagined she would feel.

Rukia had only known such a feeling once before. There had been many years ago, long before Ichigo had even been born. It had been when she and Renji had stood very close, so close that Rukia had almost slept with him...

_The day had been sunny and the birds had sung around them._ _She and Renji had been sitting on the hill where their childhood friends lay buried. Their hands had held each other and their lips had smiled to another._

_They had talked a lot about "taking their relationship full out", but Rukia had not felt quite ready for it._ _She saw at Renji that he was becoming desperate, but what could she do? He had a choice to either wait or leave her. And she knew that he most of all didn't want to leave her._

_Suddenly she felt Renji's lips against her and soon they had kissed each other deep. Renji had lay on top of Rukia and started to open her_ _Shinigami outfit she had worn that day._ _At that moment she realized what Renji was trying to do._ _She had frozen to ice, and her stomach began to hurt._ _Something inside her had told her to stop Renji; she was not ready for this._

"_Renji, please stop ..."_

"_Is something wrong, Rukia?" Renji had given her a worried, and what looked like a, surprising look._

"_It's just ..._ _This feels wrong._ _I am not sure whether I want this ..."_

_Renji sat up and looked at Rukia when she_ _corrected her garments. "I'm sorry, Rukia._ _I did not mean to ..."_

"_No, I should have told you before, Renji._ _I am not angry", Rukia had said and gave Renji a smile._

After that day no boy had ever touched her like that, until now...

"Yes, Rukia? What is it?" Ichigo smiled and looked down at her.

Rukia smiled back and pushed Ichigo closer to herself. When she looked up at Ichigo, she could see the desire he had had before, but it was much stronger now. She could with help from Ichigo's grin see that he could see the exact same thing in her eyes.

Ichigo's hands began their walk down Rukia's back, until they reached her ass. He gave Rukia a questioning facial expression, but she just smiled and shrugged.

"Do what you want, because that's what I will do, anyway …" Rukia said with a grin and let her hand slide into Ichigo's naked chest that were under his Shinigami clothing.

Slowly she began to emphasize Ichigo's chest while she moved to the left and right, as if she were dancing. The result was that she could explore Ichigo's chest closer and he her butt, which was moving towards his hands.

"What are you ...?" Ichigo began, but Rukia put her hand over his mouth.

"Relax and enjoy, Ichigo", Rukia whispered with a seductive voice.

With these words Rukia turned so that her back was against Ichigo's chest. She began dancing slowly while she took Ichigo's hands in hers and guided them on a tour on her body. First her head and neck, which soon got entourage by her stomach and last but not least, her breasts.

First Ichigo looked at Rukia with big eyes, but after that she continued with her dance, he began to follow her in the erotic dance one by moving in Rukia's pace, caress the body parts she led him to with passion and licking her neck.

"Ah ... Ichigo, God you're doing great!" Rukia moaned and grinned.

"Thank you, master ..." Ichigo whispered in Rukia's ear that made her shudder when Ichigo's warm breathe touched her naked skin.

Rukia felt something hard against her butt, and she grinned more. Ichigo really enjoyed this little "dance".

"I want you ..." She heard Ichigo whisper and felt how he bit her gently on the neck.

Rukia gasped and leaned back. Her whole body was filled with a desire she had never felt before. She understood now how it really felt like to have someone that wants to be one with the person you love.

Feel the person inside you, to feel the person make love to you.

"I want you too, Kurosaki Ichigo ..." Rukia moaned low and asked Ichigo to bite her again.

And that Ichigo did, but harder this time. Rukia screamed in pleasure and felt how the blood began to flow down her throat and down to her chest. Ichigo's tongue licked her wound, his fingers wiping away the blood running down her neck and put it up against her mouth.  
As a vampire who hadn't received blood for a long time, Rukia was licking and sucking up her own blood from Ichigo's fingers. "Mm ... I feel like I could come ..."

"Same here, Rukia ..." Ichigo turned to Rukia, and kissed her with such a passion, desire and hunger that Rukia was almost shocked. She felt how Ichigo quickly undid her dress and how it fell to the floor. She shivered a little, she stood with just her underwear, but she soon became hot again when Ichigo kissed her again and continued to caress her body.

Soon also his clothes were on the floor beside her. Rukia pulled Ichigo down on her bed with him on top of her. They saw each other in the eyes before Ichigo bent down towards Rukia's breast and started licking them.

"Ah ... Ichigo ..." Rukia closed her eyes and relaxed. She let the feeling of Ichigo's tongue on her bare skin fill her senses.

While Ichigo licked Rukia's chest he grabbed her underwear and pulled them off her. As soon as her panties were gone Ichigo let a finger slowly caress Rukia's clitoris while he continued to lick her stiff nipples.

Rukia moaned and pressed her wet sex against Ichigo's finger. "Oh, yes ... Ichigo, more!"

Ichigo was not slow to obey. He put two of his fingers inside Rukia's inner walls and began to move them inside out. Getting to feel how Rukia became wetter and wetter by his treatment and also to hear her moans of pleasure got Ichigo's desire to grow bigger and bigger. He wanted Rukia so much that it hurt.

Rukia continued to move back and forth with Ichigo's fingers and she felt how her inner walls began to contract with each new push from Ichigo's fingers. She knew that her orgasm was near. "Ichigo ... I will ..."

Ichigo stopped immediately with his treatment and looked up at Rukia. Seeing her lying naked in front of him with stiff nipples and a wet gender just waiting to feel his cock inside of it was more than he could endure. He must have her and that _now_.

Ichigo pulled his fingers out from Rukia and lay on top of her. He looked into her eyes before he gave her a kiss. "Are you ready for me, Rukia?" He asked when their lips parted from each other after a passionate session.

"More than ready", Ichigo got as answer.

Ichigo smirked, and took off his underwear and got ready to finally bury himself between Rukia's legs. "Alright, here I come ..."

When Ichigo pushed inside Rukia she gasped loudly and grabbed Ichigo's shoulders. The Feeling that Ichigo's big cock gave her made her feel complete. She could feel how Ichigo filled her.

"Oh my God ..." Rukia managed to get out between a few pushes.

"You're so wet, Rukia ... You feel so good ... So tight", said Ichigo and pressed deeper into Rukia.

Rukia put her legs around Ichigo's hips and pressed herself hard against Ichigo for every time he pressed himself deeper in her. Each thrust seemed to provide both of them more and more pleasure until neither of them could hold it any longer.

"Ichigo ... I'm coming soon ..." Rukia moaned loudly and pressed herself even harder against Ichigo as she felt her inner parts tremble more and more. It seemed like the whole area around her pussy pulled together just too soon explode.

"Same here ..." it came from Ichigo and Rukia could feel how his cock was becoming increasingly harder with each new thrust. Ichigo was close as well.

After a few more thrusts both Rukia and Ichigo came at the same time. When the orgasm washed over them, they screamed out each other's names.

Ichigo got down on Rukia's chest and gasped. He raised his head after he had catch his breath and gave her a smile before he whispered, "That was amazing. _You're great, Rukia._ I love you ..."

Rukia smiled back. "And I love you, Ichigo ..."

Before they fell asleep with their arms around each other Rukia and Ichigo was giving each other a tired kiss.

3


	12. Chapter 12

Someone knocked on the door.

Rukia slowly opened her eyes. The sun shone from the window above her head. Her body felt heavy and she was feeling dizzy, as if she had drunk too much the night before and now woke up from the alcohol mist.

"Kuchiki, open the door, are you so kind. I want to talk to you", Rukia could hear Ukitake's voice say from the other side of the bedroom door.

"One moment, Sir ..." Rukia said and felt how she panicked.

She looked down quickly. On her chest Ichigo was still heavy asleep. If Ukitake saw him laying there in her bed with her - both naked - he would tell Byakuya and the other captains that she had a relationship with a man from the real world faster than she could say "Shunpo".

They would not accept it, not at all.

"Ichigo, wake up! You have to disappear for a while." Whispered Rukia and shook Ichigo hard to get him to wake up.

"What? What happens, Rukia?" Ichigo looked up with tired and confused eyes on Rukia. "Disappear? Where?"

"I do not know, but you have to dress fast as the eye and hide, anywhere! Ukitake, my Captain, is waiting for me outside the door", Rukia explained quickly and hurried to get dressed.

"Coming, Captain", she cried to the door, gave a quick and meaning eye behind her back to Ichigo and went as slowly as she could to the door. She wanted to buy Ichigo all the time she could conceal.

Once Rukia opened the door, she saw that something was bothering Ukitake. He looked at her with a furrowed brow and worried eyes. Rukia's stomach turned into a knot when she saw Ukitake's facial expressions. Had they already been caught with their pants down?

"May I come in?" Ukitake asked gravely.

"Certainly, Sir. Sorry if my room looks a bit messy, but I've just been waking up." Rukia smiled at Ukitake and opened the door while she sent a thought to Ichigo that he would have had time to hide somewhere so that Ukitake would not be needed to see him, by now.

Ukitake went into the room and sat down on a chair which stood in the right corner next to a table. Rukia closed the door behind her and sat down on the bed. From there she could look out at the entire room except for what was behind her back.

"Has anything special happened, Sir? You look pretty worried", said Rukia when she was searching for Ichigo's spiritual pressure in order to find out where he had been hiding, but could not find it. It made her a little worried. Had he left Seireitei or had someone seen him and taken him prisoner as he tried to get back to the real world?

"I got a report last night that someone would have sneaked around here in our company. According to the report, this person had orange, spiky hair and some sort of Shinigami outfit that looked very similar to what you and I and the other in Seireitei wears. His sword was as long as the person himself; bent on the top and colored in white and black."

Ichigo, you idiot! One of the guards must have seen you! Thought Rukia but did not show Ukitake with any look what she thought.

Instead she put on a surprised expression. "Really? But why did not the alarm start then? If it would have been an intruder here the guard ought to have sounded the alarm so that everyone in Seireitei would be able to find out?"

"It's because I told the guard not to do so. I wanted to talk to everyone here in the 13th seat first and see if anyone has seen anything suspicious."

"I understand that, Sir. How many have you been talking to?"

"You are actually the first one I talk to ..." confessed Ukitake with an embarrassed smile. "I wanted to talk to you first."

Now the surprised expression in Rukia's face was real. What did Ukitake say? "But why me? Why did you choose me first?"

He knows ... He knows that Ichigo was here with me all night! It's over! It went through Rukia's head and she was preparing for the worst.

To her surprise, she heard Ukitake saying:

"For when the guard saw the person last night, he jumped in through your window." Ukitake pointed to the window behind Rukia's back.

"My window?" Rukia panted with a shocking voice. "It can not be true! I have not seen that anyone has been in here all night. Sure, I woke up once last night that I heard something outside my window but I did not see anything. It may have been the person you're looking for, Captain, but if that is true, he / she did not hurt me."

Inside Rukia screamed with relief. They had not get caught, it was not because of that, that Ukitake had come to her room to talk to her. She and Ichigo were safe.

_For this__time,_ a little voice whispered in her ear.

"You're really sure, Kuchiki? That you did not see anyone and that this something that you heard did not do anything to you?" Ukitake gave Rukia a troubled look.

"Yes, I am, and no, the sound that I heard and that probably was the person who the guard thought he saw, did not do me any harm" Rukia answered with a serious voice and expression in her eyes.

He gave me pleasure ... Rukia thought and grinned without showing it to Ukitake.

Ukitake nodded slowly and looked thoughtful. "I understand ... Thanks for your time. Tell me if you remember something else, Kuchiki."

Rukia smiled and nodded. "I will, Captain. Don't worry."

Ukitake stood up, smiled back at Rukia and went towards the door. "Sorry if I woke you up, Kuchiki. Will you continue with your training today?"

"Yes, I will after I have cleaned up here." Rukia followed Ukitake and closed the door behind him as he walked out of her room.

Rukia had just closed the door and take a sigh of relief, before she heard a sound from the wardrobe that stood behind her back, next to the window. She turned around, just in time to catch sight of a naked Ichigo coming stumbling out of the closet with his clothes in his hands. When Ichigo saw that Rukia looked at him, his cheeks turned red with embarrassment.

"So that's where you hid yourself, Ichigo?" Rukia could not help but smile and blink a little with one eye to Ichigo.

"Yes, I panicked and decided it would be best to hide there", Ichigo pointed a finger at the closet. "I can tell you that there really is cold to stand in a closet without any clothes on the body for several minutes."

Rukia laughed and shook her head. "The next time you should probably _put your clothes on__first,_ _before_ you jump into anyone's wardrobe."

"I guess you're right", said Ichigo and smiled back at Rukia. But his smile quickly disappeared and he looked at Rukia with a worried look. "I hope that you will not get into trouble now because of me ..."

"Do not worry about me, Ichigo. Ukitake has no evidence that I lied to him. It seems that no one else except the guard saw you." Rukia went to Ichigo, put her arms around him and kissed him on the mouth. "I love you, do you know that?"

Ichigo smiled and caressed Rukia's cheek. "I love you too, Kuchiki Rukia. I hope I will see you soon. Do you want to come to me next time? My family would like to see you."

"I will try, Ichigo. I'm sure I can think of a reason to go to the real world. But I suggest that we wait a few days until the next time."

Ichigo nodded and gave Rukia a kiss before he got dressed and jumped out through the window. Before he disappeared Ichigo turned his head, gave Rukia a smile and put his hand over his lips before he threw it against her in a kiss.

Rukia laughed, gave Ichigo a kiss back and then waved to him. "Farewell, Ichigo. Now make sure that no one sees you!"

Ichigo did not answer but just winked at her before he began his journey home to the real world. To Karakura Town, where his family and friends were.

When she saw Ichigo disappear Rukia's shoulders fell and her smile vanished from her lips. Suddenly Rukia felt so ... Abandoned. As if all her happiness had disappeared along with Ichigo.

"I miss him so much already ..." Rukia whispered to herself and sighed. "But one day Ichigo and my life will live side by side. No more secrets or hiding places, we shall be free to live as the human and Shinigami that we are. We shall love each other like true lovers love each other. One day we will die, but not alone. When our time comes, we will face it together. I promise you that, Kurosaki Ichigo."

With these words Rukia grabbed her sword, jumped out through the window Ichigo had just disappeared from a few minutes earlier and used her Shunpo to get to the 13th Company's training ground, where she knew that Ukitake was waiting for her.

3


	13. Chapter 13

_**Warning: This chapter contains child birth.**_ _**If you can't read about when a child is born, do not read this chapter.**_

Nine months. Nine months had passed since she and he had almost been caught. They had begun to know how to act and what time was best to see each other, at this point.

Rukia looked out the window in her room where she sat on the bed in the 13th seat. Her mind was filled with thoughts and feelings. The past months, she had had problems with her period. It had not arrived as it should and she had begun to feel tired, had trouble concentrating on things she did and she easily became angry or sad.

And most important of all, she seemed to feel some kind of energy that came from her stomach. Something that was slowly growing inside her...

"What happens to me, sister? Am I going crazy after all these lies and secret meetings with Ichigo?" Rukia asked the moon that shone through her window. "Or ...Could it be that I and Ichigo will have a ... baby? Could it be the answer to the energy that I feel within me?"

When those words came out of her mouth, Rukia knew that it was true. She was carrying Ichigo's child in her stomach. It could not be someone else's. But what would she do now with this knowledge? Would she go to the real world and tell Ichigo or wait until he came to her next time?

No, she could not go there. She had been there three days ago, and it was too early to go there already. Ukitake would be suspicious if she asked him to visit the real world with just a few days apart.

Ukitake! Rukia knew she had to tell him. He would help her when...

Rukia put her hands on the floor and leaned back as a huge pain from her tummy filled her. She felt something running down her legs, and when she looked down she saw water pouring out from between her legs onto the floor.

Rukia's water had broken, and she was now on her way to get her first labor.

Quickly, she stood up, walked to the door and opened it. No one but herself was in the hallway, so Rukia took her chance and ran as fast as the contractions let her to Ukitake's place.

"C-captain, help me!" Rukia gasped when she opened the door and saw Ukitake sit at his desk. "I ... I am in labor ... I will give birth at any time!"

Ukitake, who had been busy writing some reports, was now staring at Rukia who had gone down on her knees, with wild staring eyes. "What do you say, Kuchiki!" he exclaimed with a shocked voice.

Quickly Rukia explained to Ukitake what had happened and asked him to help her to deliver her baby. Ukitake brought without the slightest hesitation Rukia to sit on his bed and laid her down on it. He brought a small towel as he soaked and lay over Rukia's forehead because she would not get too hot. Ukitake then put down the blanket on the floor and asked Rukia to separate her legs so he could examine her.

Ukitake had been involved in many other Shinigami's births before, so he knew how the procedure went.

"Is there anything I can do for you while we wait for the child to begin to move downwards, Kuchiki?" Ukitake asked Rukia between one of her panting breaths.

"Send a hell butterfly to Karakura Town ... To a Kurosaki Ichigo, he is the father ... I want him to be here when ..." Rukia gasped and felt how a new contraction came. She turned her head slowly towards Ukitake and looked at him with a pleading look in her purple eyes. "Please ..."

Without a word Ukitake called on a butterfly, spoke the message and pulled his finger out the window in his room. Both he and Rukia watched as the butterfly disappeared from the Seireitei to leave its message.

"Thank you, Captain ..." Rukia gave Ukitake a faint smile.

"Now I want you to tell me what's happening here, Kuchiki", ordered Ukitake Rukia.

First Rukia did not replied, she just looked at the ceiling. But as soon as she opened her mouth everything got out: the secret meetings in the real world and in Seireitei, Ichigo and how she had lied to keep their secret and finally how they had first met each other...

In Karakura Town fought Ichigo against some Hollows as the hell butterfly came and landed on his finger to give its important message to him. At first Ichigo did not understand what it was that had landed on his finger, but he decided to try to figure out what it was and what it was that it wanted him.

"Hmm, what is ...?" Began Ichigo, but remained silent when the hell butterfly gave him his message.

Ichigo's body became as hard as a rock, his eyes widened and his mouth gaped and closed like a fish out of water when he heard the butterfly's message from Ukitake and Rukia in Seireitei.

"Rukia ... Why did you not say anything to me before? Why didn't I see something? Any sign at all. Her belly has not grown and she has not said anything that she would have had problems with her period. It must have come as an equal shock for her as it did for me", said Ichigo for himself.

Quickly, he made an end to the other Hollows and began his trip to the laboring Rukia in Seireitei.

"Ah ... Oh my God, the contractions come faster and stronger with every new minute that passes! I think the baby are coming out now, Sir ..." Rukia sweat and was trying to breathe calmly between each new contraction that swept through her body, but it was hard.

"Are you sure, Rukia? Should I look if it is time for you to push?" Ukitake asked as he continued to stroke the wet a towel over Rukia's forehead.

Rukia nodded and swallowed. Damn Ichigo, what took him so long? Did he think she could hold the baby in forever?

As if Ichigo had heard her thoughts, he came without the slightest warning flying in to Ukitake's room. When he saw Rukia lying on the bed, panting and in unspeakable pain, he bent down beside her and took her hand. He pressed his lips against her and stroked her cheek with his free hand. "I'm sorry, Rukia. I came as fast as I could."

Ukitake, who had control how open Rukia was, now looked up when he heard Ichigo's voice. He stared at Ichigo with wide eyes. "It's you ..." Whispered Ukitake and Ichigo looked over at him.

"Yes, that's me. I am the father of the child Rukia is about giving birth to. Please let me stay at her side. She needs me, Ukitake." Ichigo turned back to Rukia without waiting for an answer and whispered quietly to her.

"That's fine, honey. Take it easy, take deep breaths and try to be calm. I am here for you, I will not leave you." Ichigo was calmly chatting with Rukia so she would not start to panic. Ichigo knew that at a birth so many things could be happening that could put both mother and child in a horrible situation. If it was something he did not want to happen, it was precisely to his Rukia and the child who would soon see the light.

Rukia gave Ichigo a smile before she screamed in pain. "God, it's time now! Here it comes..." Rukia took a deep breath before she leaned forward and began to push hard.

Ichigo felt how Rukia took a proper hold of his hand. He continued to stroke her cheek and talk reassuringly to her while she struggled to get out the baby from her womb where it had dwelt for nine months.

I give all my trust to Ukitake now. I hope that he will not disappoint me, Ichigo thought and gave Ukitake a glance.

Ukitake raised his head, looked straight at Ichigo and said, as if he had read Ichigo's thoughts: "Do not worry, I will do everything I can to help Rukia and her child. You can trust me, Kurosaki Ichigo. I will not let anything bad happen to them if I can prevent it."

A new scream from Rukia got both Ichigo and Ukitake to draw their attention back to her. Ukitake disappeared between Rukia's legs again. "Good, Kuchiki! I can already see the head! Continue to push; the baby is on its way out!"

After what seemed like hours, but actually wasn't more than half an hour, could the cries of a newborn child be heard. Ukitake handed over an orange-haired boy in Ichigo's arms after having wrapped the baby in a towel. Ichigo put the towel better around the boy and gave him a little kiss on the forehead.

"He is so beautiful, Rukia. He has your eyes and my hair", said Ichigo to Rukia with a proud smile.

"He has ...?" Rukia asked with a tired voice. "Let me hold him, Ichigo. I want to see our little miracle with my own eyes."

Ichigo gently put down the boy in Rukia's arms. He opened his eyes slowly and purple eyes met Rukia's. She smiled and hugged her newborn baby. Soon he was looking for Rukia's breast, so Rukia opened her Shinigami outfit and pulled in her nipple in her boy's mouth.

Ukitake stood beside Ichigo with a smile and put his hand on Ichigo's shoulder. "Congratulations, Kurosaki. You're a father now."

Ichigo smiled and nodded, but did not let his gaze disappear from Rukia who fed their infant son. Instead he put his hand over Ukitake's resting on his shoulder. "Thank you, Ukitake. Thank you very much for doing this to me and Rukia."

"Yes, thanks, Captain. I do not know what I would have done if you had not been here and helped me." Rukia looked up at Ukitake with a tired smile.

Ichigo leaned down to his knees and stroked his newborn son's hair gently. He just could not take his eyes off him. He was the most wonderful and beautiful thing Ichigo had ever seen. He could not describe what he saw and felt in that moment when he looked down at his newborn son in his lover's arms.

"Who would have thought that I would become a father when I was only fifteen years old...?" Ichigo whispered more to himself than to Rukia and Ukitake while he stroked his son's arm gently, afraid of harming the baby.

Rukia smiled and looked at her son, too. "What should we call him, Ichigo?"

"How about ... Kei?" Ichigo asked, looking up at Rukia with a smile. "It means blessed."

"Perfect", said Rukia and kissed Ichigo.

"Kei, huh? Should that be the name of my new nephew?" Kuchiki Byakuya asked in the doorway.

3


	14. Chapter 14

Everyone in the room, with the exception of Kei who was busy eating, was staring at Byakuya as he stood in the doorway. Especially Rukia, who was terrified and took a tighter grip around Kei, without her noticing.

"Nii-sama ... W-what are you doing here ...?" She asked with frightened voice.

Byakuya grinned and walked to Rukia and Kai as he said:

"What am I doing here? I want to say hello to Kai, of course. Can't I do that? He is, after all, the new member of the Kuchiki clan, isn't he? The only thing that bothers me is that his father is a human, though."

"Excuse me, Kuchiki Byakuya, but that's where you're wrong. I'm a Shinigami as well. My powers came to me when Rukia gave me half of her own, so I could save my family from a Hollow. It was actually so she got so big wounds after she had been in the real world, if you remember? You were so disappointed in her that you hit her. I saw the wounds the same night as Rukia came to me and told me everything. How tired she is of your treatment, how happy she was when Ukitake took her under his wings and let her be a member of his company." Ichigo looked at Byakuya who now had stopped right in front of him.

It became very quiet in the room. Ichigo and Byakuya stared at each other with glares that seemed to kill.

"A real Shinigami, hm? Let me laugh. I don't believe it until I have seen it with my own eyes", Byakuya smirked.

Ichigo took Byakuya's scarf and pulled his face just centimeters from Byakuya's. "I'd like to. How about we solve it as soon as tomorrow? Tell all the captains what happened here tonight and tell them to come to the place where you execute people. I want them to see this fight; I want them to see when I kick your ass. The winner will receive Rukia. If you win, she must get back to you, but if I win, she is free to do what she wants."

"Ichigo, no ..." Rukia whispered, shaking her head, but it was too late.

The deal was already made.

"As you wish. We will solve everything tomorrow. I can not wait to see your face when you realize that you have lost", said Byakuya and left the room with a smile.

"I'm waiting for you there, Byakuya." Ichigo turned to Rukia and kissed her. "Do not worry, Rukia. I can win against him; I have been practicing much in the real world with Urahara. I've learned to control my power now and also learned a new power. I am much stronger now than I was before."

Rukia felt the tears began to form in her eyes. She could not believe that Ichigo had challenged Byakuya, and that he had taken her as the winner's price. If he lost, she would have to go back to Byakuya, to the abuse...

"Ichigo, I'm afraid ... I've just given birth to our son and tomorrow may be the last day you see him alive! I ... If you die tomorrow, I will take my sword and kill myself and Kai! If you die, we die with you, Ichigo. I can not stand the thought that Kai will live without his father at his side, or being mistreated by Nii-sama!" Rukia screamed, and in her eyes Ichigo could see such a strong determination and strength that he knew that what Rukia was saying was true.

He smiled, gave Rukia a new kiss and took Kai in his arms. "I promise you, my son, and thy mother, that I am not going to die tomorrow. I will win and I will come back to both of you so that we can finally live together, all three of us. Now that I finally have got the family I have always dreamed of, I will not let it slip away from me so easily."

Ichigo smiled down against Kai, hugged him and gave his hair a light kiss.

Byakuya had kept his promise. All captains, including the captain commander, were on the execution place the next day. Ichigo looked at them all, one by one. Everybody had their eyes directed at him and Byakuya as they stood behind Sokyokun, Seireitei's execution machine.

Perfect, thought Ichigo before he took a step forward towards the captains. "First, I want to thank you all for coming here today. As you all probably know, Rukia gave birth to a boy last night, my son. We have given him the name Kai, and I promised him and Rukia that I will return to them before this day is over. I will keep that promise to my son by defeating Kuchiki Byakuya, one of your captains."

Ichigo was silence for a few seconds and looked over at Rukia and Kai, who was in Rukia's arms. They sat next to Ukitake and the sight gave Ichigo courage, so he continued:

"Did Byakuya tell you how he has treated Rukia in the recent years since Rukia's sister and Byakuya's wife, Hisana, died? Did he ever tell you, that he beat her? That she has lived as a slave with him these six years since Hisana's death? Did she tell any of you about how happy she was when she became a member of the 13th Company?"

Now all captains except Ukitake and Byakuya began to talk to in each others mouth. Ichigo could hear words like "impossible" and "it can not be true", amongst the captains.

It was then Ukitake stood up and asked everyone to be quiet. He pointed a finger at Rukia. "Have not you all ever wondered why Kuchiki Rukia has never been outside since Hisana's death? As quietly as she always is, how she always looks down when someone speaks to her? I have, so I decided to let her be a member of my company so that I could more easily keep my eye on her. I found out more than what I was barging for, and can you guess what that was?" Ukitake looked over at all captains, but when no one answered, he continued.

"She showed me bruises and scars from fists, knives and other things. Rukia, show them."

Rukia stood up, gave Kai to Ukitake and lifted up her sleeve of her Shinigami outfit. On her forearm was a long, white scar from something sharp could be seen and started on her hand and stopped just below the elbow. It was not an old scar, but not particularly new either.

"I ... I got this scar when Nii-sama took a knife and ... cut me with it. He told me that the reason to that he had ... cut me was that I hadn't made the food good enough ..." Rukia said in a low voice and her whole body shook with fear at the memory. "When it had stopped bleeding, he forced me to clean up my own blood off the floor ..."

An old man with a yellow hat and pink jacket with flowers on, shook his head. His name was Shunsui Kyoraku and he was the captain of the 6th Company. "Oops ... Who would have thought that something like this would be happening here, in the very Seireitei?"

Byakuya looked at Rukia with such cold eyes that she had to sit down again. Her eyes were filled with fear and she could not control her trembling body. Only when Kai was in her arms again she calmed down.

"This man has destroyed Rukia's life! She is so afraid to meet new people that you can not even touch her shoulder without her jumping high." Ichigo pointed at Byakuya. "I want Rukia to be happy. That's why I plan to win over Kuchiki Byakuya. In order to give Rukia a better life, a life she deserves after all these years!"

"Are you going to keep talking or shall we start the fight now?" Asked Byakuya Ichigo and smiled a cold smile. "Pray to the God you people have, young man, for you will probably need him."

And so the fight between honor and love had begun.

Zangetsu and Senbonzakura met in a powerful surge of energy. Their masters withdrew and saw each other in the eyes with a grin in their faces.

"You are much stronger than I expected, Kurosaki. I start believing that you really are a Shinigami, but some o f your powers are not your own. Most are from my dead wife's sister, Kuchiki Rukia." Byakuya put down his sword on his side.

"Finally! Then you might start fighting with me with your full strength now? I know that you can do better than this!" Replied Ichigo, pushed his legs back and put Zangetsu in front of his face like a shield.

Byakuya replied to this by disappearing and a second later, appear behind Ichigo. His sword was about to hit Ichigo when Zangetsu was raised and blocked Senbonzakura's attack. A foot lifted off the ground and kicked Byakuya's foot as he lost his balance.

Byakuya used his Shunpo to get away from Ichigo, but heard a sword come against him from the air above his head. He managed to block it and heard someone laugh.

"Don't you understand that I can see your every step, Kuchiki Byakuya?" Ichigo looked up with a grin on Byakuya and heard someone yelling his name.

"Come on, Ichigo! You can do it, I know you can!" Yelled Rukia 100 meters away from them as she sat on the sidelines.

Ichigo turned his head, gave Rukia a warm smile and waved to her and Kai, who slept in Rukia's arms.

"Keep your eyes on your enemy!" Byakuya said with a cold voice, once again using his Shunpo and appeared behind Ichigo where he cut up his shoulder.

Ichigo's eyes widened and his mouth opened. He fell forward on his knees to the ground. He could hear how Byakuya went around him and they stop when he stood in front of him. "Is this all? Is this your real power and if so is the case, you really disappointed me, Kurosaki Ichigo."

Ichigo shook his head and smiled. "You have not seen my best yet. Prepare, Kuchiki Byakuya!"

Blood began to suddenly run out from a wound on Byakuya's shoulder and Ichigo stood up. "What is it, Byakuya? Suddenly you seem more open than just a few moments ago. Have you lowered your garden or have I become stronger than you?" Ichigo asked with a playful smile.

Byakuya did not answer. Instead, he flew off a few meters away from Ichigo, lifted his Zanpaktou and said: "Try to block this if you can, Kurosaki Ichigo. I'll send my Bankai on you, which contains thousands of sharp cherry blossoms. They are very fast and are impossible to escape from. No one has ever managed to avoid it, and I'm pretty sure you will not be the first one to do it either."

Ichigo had just lifted his eyebrow when he saw how Byakuya let out his sword and how it disappeared down to the ground. Swords began to build around Byakuya and suddenly transform into thousands of cherry blossoms. He could hear Byakuya saying "Bankai, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi" (_Vibrant Display of a Thousand Cherry Blossoms_), and how all the cherry blossoms came towards him at full speed.

Ichigo put his sword in front of him as a shield and tried to get the cherry blossoms go away by hitting them. Some of them really disappeared, apart from most of them that cut at his skin and ripped it up with their sharp blades. Ichigo felt the warm blood streaming down his face from a wound on his head and in various parts of his body.

"That wasn't bad, Byakuya. But not enough to hurt me badly." Ichigo smiled again. "Now it's my turn to be serious, Kuchiki Byakuya! Take a good look now, this is my Bankai!"

Whole Ichigo's body turned blue by the energy that flew out from his soul. His sword and clothing had also changed. Now Zangetsu's had the form of a long, full black and sharp sword. On the handle was small circles with the color red engraved and by the edge it hung a small chain. Ichigo's clothes had changed to a jacket with red back, white edges and a black Shinigami dress.

He looked at Byakuya with eyes that shifted in blue and something that looked like ... small splashes of yellow.

First Byakuya just stared at Ichigo with wide eyes. Was that ... a Bankai? But soon he shook his head and said "I guess you do not give me any choice then. Miracles happen just once, so do not expect to get a second chance, you brat!"

A great wave of cherry blossoms flew towards Ichigo, who flew away from them. He tried to attack Byakuya, but he just put up a barrier of new cherry blossoms in front of him. Ichigo jumped behind Byakuya who tried to keep up with his speed.

What is this? Such speed! Senbonzakura can not keep up! Byakuya thought with wide eyes.

"What's wrong, Kuchiki Byakuya? Am I too fast for you? Don't you know that I can go faster than this?" Ichigo asked Byakuya.

Suddenly a giant wall of cherry flowers built around Ichigo and he heard how Byakuya said: "I got you!"

Ichigo quick lifted his sword and cut in the air around him. One after one the cherry blossoms disappeared, until all were gone. "You said that miracles only happens once, so what would you call it this time?"

Byakuya turned and saw Ichigo standing behind him. His eyes widened and a moment after he felt a pain that came from his hand. He grabbed Ichigo's Zanpaktou and looked up at him.

"This is it. The form that waives all defenses ... and concentrates solely on the total annihilation of the enemy. This is Senbonzakura's true form. Senkei Senbonzakura Kageyoshi!" Ichigo looked surprised at first, but soon it turned into horror when he saw how hundreds of pink sword was built in the air around him and Byakuya. They made a small circle that made it impossible for Ichigo to escape.

"Get ready, I have just showed this to a person before you, Kurosaki Ichigo. I only use this attack when I really want to kill someone", said Byakuya to Ichigo, awaiting his next move.

Ichigo looked at all the swords that performed high around him. He understood that if he would have a chance to win, he must do it now.

"Thanks for the compliment. Let us end this, Kuchiki Byakuya!" Ichigo ran towards the 6th Company Captain with Zangetsu lifted into the air.

At first it looked as if Byakuya would not do anything but just stand where he stood and let Ichigo hit him. But when Ichigo was only a few feet from him, he lifted his sword and met Ichigo's.

The two Zanpaktou's vibrate with force when their masters again were beating them against each other. Both Zangetsu and Senbonzakura had not had this kind of fight for a while, and they were both very excited to see what would happen next.

By the sidelines Rukia was worried. She knew that from now on Ichigo would have a much harder battle to fight. When Byakuya used Senkei Senbonzakura Kageyoshi, he was really serious. If Ichigo did not have a plan or strategy, he would become an easy target for Senbonzakura.

"Ichigo, be careful ..." Rukia whispered, looking down at Kai.

He had his eyes open and looked straight up at Rukia with his violet eyes. It looked as if he wanted to tell his mother that everything would be fine, dad come back to the two of them.

"I really hope that you're right, Kai ..." Rukia gave her son a little smile and a kiss on the cheek.

4


	15. Chapter 15

Damn, he's become much faster ... After that he used that "Senkei" thing, his speed just got faster and faster! But it's not a problem for me, I can go faster too ... Ichigo thought and gasped as he stood on his knee a few meters from Byakuya.

"Done already? What a disappointment, Kurosaki", Byakuya said and started walking towards Ichigo with Senbonzakura at his hip, as if their fight was already over.

"Heh, that's only what you think, Byakuya", said Ichigo and started walking towards Byakuya when he felt a pain that came from his left leg.

When Ichigo looked down he saw that one of the swords that had flew in the air around them was nailed to his feet, and that it made him unable to move his legs. When he looked up again he saw Byakuya point at him with one of his fingers against his chest.

"Hado #4, Byakurai (Pale lightning)."

Ichigo leaned down to his knees and panted heavily. He could hear Byakuya's voice saying that he was at his limit, and he felt how his body would not move, not even how much he tried. He could also see how Byakuya's sword came towards him, as in slow motion.

"It's over, Kurosaki Ichigo."

_Move! Hurry up and move! Move, move, move!_ _I came here to win, and if I don't, nothing will change!_ _I must win! No, I want to win ..._ Thought Ichigo before he heard a voice from inside him laugh.

"_Idiot ... I told it to you, if you die, I will suffer for it."_

Ichigo took Byakuya's sword just before it hit him, but it was as if it was still not Ichigo.

Byakuya stared at the creature before him. "Who are you?"

"_Who am I? Ha-ha ... I'm no one!_ _You ask me who I am, but the truth is ... I do not have a name!"_ Ichigo raised his head and in half of his face Byakuya could see a Hollow's mask. The mask was white with red marks on the right side that looked like waves.

Suddenly he felt a pain that came from his chest, and when he looked down he saw the blood streaming out of a large wound that this Hollow had caused him.

"_You really are worthless after all, Ichigo!"_ Cried Shirosaki Hichigo and attacked Byakuya again...

In the audience it was very quiet. All captains, Rukia and Kai saw how Ichigo turned into the Hollow with so much power that he, literally talked, kicked the shit out the 6th Company Captain, Kuchiki Byakuya.

Nothing like this had ever happened before, that a Shinigami could transform himself into a Hollow. A Hollow he apparently could not fully control. A Hollow that loved the sight of death and blood that came from the enemy he fought against. A Hollow that laughed for each time he managed to find an opening in the opponent's attacks and attempts to stop him.

Worst it was for Rukia. She wanted to look away from the monster that was now about to kill her Nii-sama ... The monster who was the person she loved most in the world and that she had just built a family with.

Ichigo, her lover, had a monster that lived within him. A monster called a "Hollow", or "Shirosaki Hichigo" as the Hollow called he, and that Ichigo had not said anything about Not even mentioned it. Why? Was Ichigo afraid that Rukia would leave him? That she would be afraid of him? That she would take Kai away and leave him alone, forever...?

Rukia knew she would never leave Ichigo's side, as long as he did not harm her or Kai. As long as he would love her back, be there for her and comfort her when she was sad. Be there for Kai when he grew up. Playing with him, teach him to be a good Shinigami and also how to protect those you love most in this world...

Rukia's thoughts were interrupted by Kai. She looked down at her son and to her amazement, she saw how he laughed and pointed with his small child hands to his now Hollow father. His lips moved into a smile of laughter, and his eyes sparkled.

"Kai ..." whispered Rukia and gasped when she realized something.

Kai could feel his father's spiritual energy among the Hollows. He knew that this monster was a part of his father, and that it was not his real father, that his real father was in there somewhere, mixed with the Hollow.

And Rukia could feel it when she concentrated. "Ichigo ..." she whispered, feeling the tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Beat it. Do not let him take control of you! I, as well as Kai, feel that you have not lost yet. We both know and feel that you are there, somewhere. For us two, please fight against him! Take control of the Hollow for me and your son's sake. We both believe in you and know you can do it. You can win ..."

A cry got Rukia to look up. She could see how Ichigo screamed and put his hand over his mask, which now almost covered his whole face. Rukia could also hear the Hollows echoing and dark voice telling Ichigo to stop with what he was doing.

"_No, what are you doing?_ _Stop it!_ _You are nothing without me, nothing!_ _Let me fight and beat the shit out of this guy!_ _You will regret this, Ichigo!"_

Everyone looked at Ichigo and his inner Hollows struggle over who would continue to fight Kuchiki Byakuya.

When a terrifying scream came from the Hollow, 30 pairs of eyes stared at him.

Suddenly, the mask fell of Ichigo's face. He than gasped deeply and raised his amber eyes up against Byakuya. "Pooh! Sorry for the interruption. Finally we can finish this fight in my own way."

Byakuya looked at Ichigo with wide eyes. What had just happened? Where had this mask come from and all its power? Was it some kind of hidden power?

"I think I understand ... That Hollow is a part of you, but you would not let him out because you can not control him. Am I right?" Byakuya asked Ichigo.

"You're right, I'm afraid. I want to fight in my own way, with my own powers. Not with any Hollows powers. I'm not so desperate that I feel I have to use him yet", Ichigo answered to Byakuya's question and smiled. "Let's finish this fight, Kuchiki Byakuya! Let us put all our energy in one last strike."

"As you wish, Kurosaki Ichigo", grinned Byakuya.

_So what really happened there before Ichigo had taken control of the Hollow again?_ _Let's go back a few minutes to find the answer to that question._

"_The truth is that__...__I have not got a name!"_ Cried Shirosaki Hichigo and attacked Byakuya again...

Byakuya watched Shirosaki come towards him at full speed. He lifted his sword and managed to block the attack, but there had been such a strong force behind the hit that Byakuya was flying backwards.

Once he stopped, he could not see Shirosaki any longer, but he could _hear_ him.

Byakuya looked over his left shoulder and saw Shirosaki's grinning face come toward him. He felt a hand land on his shoulder.

A large explosion was both heard and seen from the audience. Tons of sand and stones flew in the air where Byakuya and Shirosaki had been seen a few seconds ago.

When the most sand had disappeared, was the blood that flowed down to the ground from a wound on Byakuya's shoulder, the only thing that could be seen.

Byakuyas breaths were both exhausted and strained up at the same time. His injured arm was hanging next to his side, lifeless. Also, his knee was bent down, as if it barely managed to keep the rest of Byakuya's body up.

Apparently Byakuya was more hurt than he wanted to show or admit to himself.

"_Ha-ha, this is fun!"_ Shirosaki's laughter could be heard. _"I have waited so long to be free, and now when I at last is, I can fight against a worthy opponent! You really suck, Ichigo!"_

Shirosaki started laughing again, but soon he stopped when Ichigo's arm was lifted up against the mask, against _him._

"_No, what are you doing?__Stop it!__You are nothing without me, nothing!__Let me fight and beat the shit out of this guy!__You will regret this, Ichigo"_, were the last words Shirosaki managed to say before the mask was torn off from Ichigo's face and Shirosaki Hichigo disappeared...

"Pooh! Sorry for the interruption. Now we can finally end this fight in my own way", Ichigo said after he had captured his breath.

After a brief explanation, Ichigo smiled and looked Byakuya in his eyes. "Let's finish this fight, Kuchiki Byakuya! Let us put all our energy in one last strike."

"As you wish, Kurosaki Ichigo", Byakuya grinned and began to transfer his energy to the hand that held his Zanpaktou, Senbonzakura.

After Ichigo and Byakuya were ready with the transfer, they ran against each other, screaming.

The fight between the 6th Company Captain Kuchiki Byakuya and the Shinigami Kurosaki Ichigo was coming to an end.

3


	16. Chapter 16

**Warning: This chapter contains Death.** **If you can't read about death, do not read this chapter, please.**

A huge light appeared where Byakuya and Ichigo had just met each other with the last of their strength in their Zanpaktou's: Zangetsu and Senbonzakura.

After a few seconds that seemed to last for minutes, everyone could see Byakuya and Ichigo. They stood with their backs to each other with their swords pointing forward and both their body seemed lifeless.

Just when Rukia thought that none of them had won, she saw how Byakuya fell forward and landed on the rocky ground in front of him. Rukia also saw how Ichigo started to laugh, then cry out:

"I won, I actually won!" He fell on his back and looked up at the sun above him. This strong it had never seemed to shine before.

Maybe it's because I thought I would never see it again ... Ichigo thought before he heard a sound from his left.

When he turned his head he saw Rukia coming running towards him with her arms wide open. Before Ichigo managed to say something Rukia's arms was around his neck. Ichigo could hear her crying.

"Rukia, my dear, what's the problem? I'm here, I'm alive. I won and I have never felt so alive in my whole life!" Ichigo laughed again and kissed Rukia's hair tenderly.

"Baka, of course, I know that you are okay! I can see it on you, Ichigo. Damn ... You made me so worried." Rukia smiled while tears streamed down her cheeks. She gave Ichigo a gentle kiss and then hugged him hard.

"I'm so sorry, Rukia, I really am. But now it's over. You, I and Kai can finally live a happy life together. No secrets, no secret meetings, no fear and no more sorrow. Just pure happiness." Ichigo was hugging Rukia back and rubbed his nose against hers.

Suddenly Ichigo heard a noise behind Rukia's back. He looked up and saw Byakuya walking towards them with an unsteady walk. His eyes met Ichigo's and Ichigo saw. Saw what Byakuya was about to do.

"No!" Ichigo screamed, rolled over so that Rukia was under him and hugged her tight to protect her with his body.

A sharp pain was felt in his back and chest. When Ichigo looked down he saw blood stream down on Rukia from a wound in his chest / stomach. He could also see Byakuya's sword's edge stand out from the wound. He could also see how Rukia opened her mouth and said something, but it was as if her words could not reach his ears.

Before darkness took its hold around him and turned everything black, Ichigo pushed Rukia from him and pulled the sword out from his stomach / back.

The last thing he saw before he closed his eyes was his son's purple eyes who looked straight into his amber ones with a worried expression and tears that streamed down his little Shinigami baby cheeks.

"Do not cry, my son ..."

"Ichigo!" Rukia screamed loudly and crawled over to Ichigo's lifeless body. She shook him hard in a desperate attempt to wake him up. Blood flowed on the ground under and around Ichigo from the wound that her Nii-sama had caused him.

"No, do not die, you can not die now!" Rukia's body shook with fear, grief and hatred. Hatred to the man, which had taken her lover away from her and her son. How could he?

When Rukia heard that Byakuya was walking towards her from behind, she felt how both anger and hatred flew through her heart. She turned and saw Byakuya deep into the eyes. "I'll kill you, Nii-sama! You have hurt me so deeply, something I never thought you could or would be able to do. I'll make sure you pay for this, Nii-sama. I'm so tired on your treatment! When should you really realize that I did not kill Hisana that day! Do you really think, in the depths of your heart, that I could do such a thing to her?" Rukia asked Byakuya.

Byakuya did not say anything. Instead he grabbed Rukia's arm and began dragging her with him as if he had not heard a single word that Rukia had told him. Something Rukia really did not like.

"Let me go, Nii-sama! Don't force me to do something I don't want to do", warned Rukia Byakuya.

"I would like to see you try, Rukia", was Byakuya's cold response.

Now Rukia saw, literally speaking, red. Byakuya did not take her seriously! He still thought she was that little, insecure and scared girl she had been during the time she had spent with him. But she would show him!

Rukia kicked Byakuya on his leg so he was forced to release his grip around her arm, which he did. She ran as fast as she could to Ichigo and grabbed Zangetsu.

When she heard footsteps behind her, Rukia turned around, gave out a scream and lifted Zangetsu in the air. She saw the black sword pierce Byakuya's chest. Blood flowed from the wound down to her face, but she did not notice. She was so concentrated on Byakuya's face that nothing else existed.

"Rukia, why ...?" Byakuya stared at Rukia with blood running down from the mouth and soon he coughed blood.

"Because I must, Nii-sama. I had to do this to show you how much I love this man that you would like to see dead so deeply. How much I loved my sister, and you, Nii-sama ... From now on you will be able to be with Hisana again. She is going to forgive you, I promise you that ..." Tears ran down Rukia's cheeks and made her view foggy.

"Rukia, wait ..." Ichigo whispered behind her. Rukia turned and saw how Ichigo held a hand over his stomach and looked at her with eyes half closed. "Let me ... help you. I still have ... a little strength left."

Rukia looked with big eyes on Ichigo. Although Byakuya had injured him so severely, he still had strength enough to want to help her. She could only nod and take Ichigo's hand in hers. In that she felt her and Ichigo's forces mix and became one.

A blue / red light took shape around Ichigo and Rukia. They both closed their eyes and concentrated on the energy around them. Soon the light became smaller and smaller until it disappeared down to Ichigo and Rukia's hands who held each other tightly.

"Are you ready, Rukia?" Whispered Ichigo and moved their hands toward his Zanpaktou, Zangetsu.

Rukia just nodded. She did not trust her voice. Instead, she opened her eyes and looked at Byakuya one last time while tears streamed down her cheeks. "Say hello to Hisana from me, okay? Goodbye, Nii-sama. I will never forget you, Kuchiki Byakuya, never ..." Rukia whispered.

Rukia leaned forward and gave Byakuya's cheek one last kiss before she, with the help of Ichigo's final energy, pulled Zangetsu out from Byakuya's chest just to directly pull it through his heart. Again, the blue / red lights appeared, but this time it went from Ichigo and Rukia's hands in to Byakuya's heart.

The last Rukia remembered before she fainted was Byakuya's smile as he whispered "goodbye".

A baby's giggle could be heard. It sounded like it was laughing at something really funny that someone did to it.

"Kai, stop that!" Laughed Rukia and sat down Kai in the babysitter.

Kai just kept giggling and looked at her with his purple eyes that reminded Rukia so much of her sister, Hisana. She felt the tears form in her eyes but she stroked them away. She tried not to cry in front of Kai, he always became so sad when she did.

"Rukia, Kai, anybody home?" A voice could be heard from the door.

"We are in the kitchen!" Rukia replied, smiling. Ichigo came into the kitchen with a big grin on his face. On his body he wore long, white jacket with the sixth company's emblem on the back along with the original Shinigami dress.

"Guess what, I'm the new captain of the 6th Company!" Ichigo laughed and grabbed Rukia's waist. He began to spin her around in the air until Rukia asked him to stop.

"Oh my God ... I never thought you would be a captain, Ichigo. After all that happened, I am so surprised that Yamamoto actually allowed you to become a captain if you passed." Rukia looked at the captain's jacket with a sad smile. Ichigo looked just like him when he had worn it...

"I didn't actually need to do any test, like the other captains. Yamamoto told me he had seen evidence of my real strength when I fought Byakuya a month ago. The reason why they would not let me become a captain until now was because of the funeral and the decision if you and I could keep Kai or not. When I told them about all you have tell me, and Ukitake also told his side of the story, they all agreed that Byakuya had really treat you bad. He had luck he died as he did." Explained Ichigo, hugged Rukia and rocked her back and forth.

"I know it was a terrible blow for you, Rukia. Yamamoto and the other captain's agree with me to 100 % that what you did was the right and that you are a very strong woman, since you could do something so hard. I am so proud of you, Rukia."

Rukia met Ichigo's lips in a tender kiss, and she knew that what he said were true. She had been very strong that day. She also knew something that she had not told anyone else: Hisana had been there at her side when she had pulled in Zangetsu in Byakuya's chest. She had actually whispered in her ear that she was very proud of her and that she had done the right thing to both herself and Byakuya. _She had followed her heart._

And one more thing that she was quite sure about was that from that day on Byakuya and Hisana would follow her every step. They would watch over her when she was down and sad. They would always be there, whispering in her ear that everything would be fine, that she only needed to continue fighting.

From this day, she and Ichigo would be able to live the life they had always dreamed of. Ichigo's father and sisters had been happy for their sake, and said that as long as he came and visited with Rukia and Kai once in a while, they would be more than satisfied. From this day Rukia knew that nothing would be the same ever again. But she did not care; she would only take the days as they came. And soon, very soon, she and Ichigo would get even closer to each other.

Rukia smiled and looked down at the ring on her finger. Yes, nothing would longer be the same again from this day on.

3


End file.
